Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday slammed President Joe Biden for the border crisis and said that "the Mexican drug cartels are driving American border policy."
"Every city in this country has now become a border town," Kennedy said in Austin, Texas, referencing New York City Mayor Eric Adams' statement that the flood of immigrants is destroying his city.
Meanwhile, thousands of migrants poured into the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, last week; and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott reportedly chartered buses on Friday to send migrants from Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas, to New York City.
Kennedy further criticized the Biden administration's recent announcement that it would grant work permits to 470,000 Venezuelan immigrants already in the country.
"Giving 470,000 migrants work visas is a signal to the rest of the world that anyone who comes to this country is going to get a work visa," he said. "And that's the last thing we want to signal at this point. Until the border is secure, we should not be talking about work visas for anybody.
"Since Biden was elected, 7 million immigrants have come across the border illegally," he said. "In the same period, just 3.1 million arrived legally. What that means is the Mexican drug cartels are driving American border policy."
He called for bipartisanship to solve the problem and urged Democrats to "rethink their positions."
"We need unity. This shouldn't be a Democratic issue or a Republic issue," he said. "The Democrats who have been urging an open border policy need to look at the evidence now and rethink their positions.
"And we need to quickly secure the borders. Then we can think about work permits or amnesty programs. But we can't sell those to the American people until the borders are closed and the frontiers are secure."
He promised that he would "make the border impenetrable to illegal migrants" as president, but said that "we can't afford to wait a year and a half for that to happen."
"That is why I am calling on Democratic and Republican leaders to unify on this issue. I'm asking Democrats in particular to reexamine their assumption that a loose border is somehow more compassionate. It is not. It has created a humanitarian crisis for the migrants that is now destroying our cities, crushing our social services, and harming the working poor by undercutting their wages."
Jack Gournell ✉
Jack Gournell, a Newsmax general assignment writer and editor, covering news, politics, media, and culture. He has over 35 years of experience in journalism.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.