RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS — Massive gaps in the border wall, piles of broken ladders, barely hidden smuggling routes, deadly vehicle crash sites, overwhelmed processing facilities off-limits to reporters, and nearly two dozen illegal immigrants encountered by Border Patrol. All this and more was witnessed in barely 30 hours spent embedded with a bipartisan congressional delegation at the U.S.-Mexico border to see the results of Biden's border policies first-hand.
Drones flown by Mexican cartels were in the air on Friday night as I rode shotgun with National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera along the border wall in Hidalgo, Texas. Just a few blocks from the official port of entry where safe and legal crossings of the border can take place, we watched as 22 immigrants who illegally entered the U.S. by crossing the Rio Grande walked up to the border wall and turned themselves in to claim asylum. According to Cabrera, all 22 will be processed and released into the U.S. with initial court dates as far as six years away.
On Friday night, I watched as the consequences of Biden’s open-border policies played out in real time. My dispatch from Hidalgo, Texas: https://t.co/YvzBKZ0cjm
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) January 20, 2024
The bipartisan congressional delegation that brought me to the border was led by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX). He and his lawmaking colleagues had a tour of CBP's Central Processing Center in McAllen, but the Biden administration agency told McCaul's staff that media — including Townhall — were not allowed to join the delegation's tour. For those keeping track at home, that's the same administration that promised to be the most transparent in history.
I also visited a spot along the border wall near Mission, Texas, where...there is no wall at all. After a portion was intentionally left open to allow heavy construction vehicles to access both sides of the wall as it was being built, the Biden administration took over and issued an edict banning border wall construction — and the massive gap became permanent. Now, illegal immigrants looking to enter the country without being apprehended have a clear and easy path into the U.S. and beyond.
Recommended
🇺🇸VIP Dispatch From the Rio Grande Valley: This Is the Border Crisis Biden Doesn't Want Americans to See https://t.co/GnQ5kWLH1k
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) January 21, 2024
Just past one of many such wall-less sections along the Rio Grande is a smuggling route where illegal immigrants emerge from brush-covered privately owned land after unlawfully entering the U.S. via the Rio Grande. There, on the edge of a road, illegal immigrants have cut holes in a chain-link fence to make their route even easier. Once they jump into a waiting vehicle arranged ahead of time, the illegal immigrants "are gone," Cabrera told me — much like the 22 illegal immigrants who turned themselves in at the gate in Hidalgo are likely to be.
After a boat tour with the Texas Department of Public Safety on Saturday, Chairman McCaul hopped into a waiting SUV with me for the drive back from Anzalduas Park on the bank of the Rio Grande to McAllen. We talked about the national security threat caused by Biden's open-border policies, actions that have seen the apprehension of an alarming surge of more than 300 individuals whose identities were flagged in the U.S. terror watchlist since Biden took office. Thirty have been apprehended just since October 2023. As McCaul explained, Biden's open border is a "risk this country cannot afford."
After returning to shore from a boat tour on the Rio Grande near Mission, Texas, @RepMcCaul tells me Biden's open border is a “risk this country cannot afford.”
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) January 21, 2024
Here’s why:https://t.co/PwL33hkaKy
In addition, the Biden administration continues to leave Border Patrol without the resources and abilities it needs to do the work of securing and enforcing the U.S.-Mexico border. As McCaul explained, from drones to personnel, deadly cartels in Mexico have more abilities and resources at their disposal than Biden allows for federal agents. Even worse, the Biden administration has abused existing infrastructure to make it easier than ever for cartels to get their human cargo smuggled across the U.S. border and released into the interior.
How Mexican Cartels 'Outman and Outpower' Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) January 22, 2024
More from my one-on-one interview with @RepMcCaul at the border: https://t.co/RkiBETKxVf
Embedding on trips like last weekend's wouldn't be possible without the direct support of Townhall's loyal VIP members. Their partnership with Townhall allows us to travel directly to the center of Biden crises and show the reality that is still denied by the president and senior members of his administration — even as it gets worse than ever before.
It's no wonder the Biden administration wouldn't allow Townhall into the CBP processing facility — they know Karine Jean-Pierre's briefing room claims won't stand up to our truth-telling reporting.
If you're not already a VIP member, join today and save 50% off your new annual membership with the promo code BORDERCRISIS. For less than seven cents a day, you'll be directly supporting Townhall's fearless coverage of the increasingly dangerous crises created by Biden's feckless administration. Plus, you'll get a completely ad-free experience and access to exclusive VIP-only stories and columns – plus podcasts and videos – along with the ability to sound off in our comments section.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member