Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) said the cartels “are controlling the border,” following a recent trip to El Paso, Texas, with other colleagues on the House Homeland Security Committee.
The New York congressman shared a video he shot from a helicopter during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) air and marine operation, showing “what appeared to be several people attempting to cross into the United States by scaling security structures,” he explained in a Facebook post.
“This is a repetitive event that takes place at our border countless times a day. Many of those crossing remain unknown to U.S. authorities, a situation that poses a serious threat to our national security,” D’Esposito added.
In a separate Facebook post, D’Esposito shared a photo showing a gaping hole at the base of the border wall.
“Our border ‘security’ systems are failing,” he explained in his post. “The Department of Homeland Security MUST take immediate action to address these glaring deficiencies.”
Cartels in Charge
On Feb. 27, D’Esposito told Fox News that he had discussed the issue with Border Patrol officials and local police, and that his trip demonstrated how cartels control the U.S.-Mexico border.
“What we’re seeing here is that the cartels, especially the Mexican cartels, are the ones that really control the border,” D’Esposito said.
He added, “They are playing a tactical game of moving people from different points of entry so they can get people illegally into this country at different points while all of our Customs and Border Patrol agents are busy dealing with a large group of the migrants.”
The cartels “are using certain entry points,” D’Esposito added, with large groups of 10 to 40 people crossing at different locations several miles apart.
When Border Patrol officers rush to one of these locations, the lawmaker explained, the cartels select an intermediate border location to send people or drugs into the United States undetected.
“What happens is that the cartel puts a price on crossing the border into the United States. And then, when they make it across and into this country, they change the price to an inflated figure,” D’Esposito explained. “What happens is that the people coming in can’t afford to pay the difference. So they’re basically owned by the cartel.”
“We’re at a point where the cartel is even willing to pay a price to help complete the paperwork on the Homeland Security application to get these people into the country,” he continued. “They are being trained by the cartel on how to answer questions.”
During his visit, D’Esposito shared a photo on Twitter in which he saw CBP officers intercept a shipment of fentanyl hidden inside a car.
“Sadly, this happens on a regular basis and underscores the need to provide Border Patrol with the resources they need,” he tweeted.
In December, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced that it seized more than 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder and more than 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl in 2022. The number of fentanyl-laced pills seized is more than double what the agency seized in 2021.
In total, the DEA said it intercepted 379 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, more than enough to kill all Americans.
Mexican cartels have been buying precursor chemicals from China to manufacture fentanyl and ship the finished products to the United States.
Illegal Immigrants
During his interview with Fox, D’Esposito also expressed concern about the number of illegal immigrants who “slipped through the cracks” and are now in the United States.
“Since Joe Biden has been president of the United States, more than 1.2 million people have entered this country illegally,” he said.
“That’s 1.2 million people we don’t know where they are,” he continued. “We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know who they’re with. They have the ability to bring illegal narcotics into this country, which is a blight on many of the communities that we live in.”
The congressman said stopping illegal immigrants is not about “denying people the American Dream.”
“It’s about people reaching the American Dream the right way and doing it so we know who they are,” he said. “We know where they’re going, we know what they’re about. And we know they want to be here because they want to love this country and they want everything it has to offer.”
Another problem is that the Border Patrol experiences high levels of personnel turnover, D’Esposito said.
“They are constantly losing members who are leaving for other federal agencies,” he said. “People are leaving this job because they are not being treated correctly by management.”
Schools and businesses have also been affected by the influx of illegal immigrants, according to the congressman.
“We talked to people on the ground who said that, throughout the day, as they try to provide a quality education to the children who attend this educational facility, they are interrupted several times a day because of immigrants coming into the community, and they need to close their school,” he said.
“There are many days when they can’t open the school until later because there are immigrants roaming the community.”