WASHINGTON, D.C.–Border Patrol agents are changing diapers rather than patrolling because facilities at the border are overrun with children, said Rep. Victoria Spartz, after her visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. She said the president and Congress need to deal with the situation by fixing legal immigration.
“Legal immigration is so difficult…so generally the easiest way is to risk your life and cross the border illegally,” said Spartz, in an interview with WIBC’s Tony Katz.
LISTEN: Spartz interview with Tony Katz
Spartz, a Republican representing central Indiana in DC (Indiana’s 5th District), is herself a legal immigrant, from the Ukraine. She said Pres. Biden is derelict in his duty by not visiting the border himself, or at least sending proxies who can report what she has seen.
She also said the U.S. needs to fix the way people can apply for asylum.
“If the people in Central America have a legitimate reason to apply for asylum, we need to have a way for them to apply in their country, a neighboring country, but a way to apply legally,” she said. “They shouldn’t be forced to cross the border illegally to apply for asylum.
Spartz also said helping fix the root causes wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Unfortunately you cannot move the whole Central America here and these people are desperate. So, we need to deal with the situation in Central America.”
She said the U.S. is also having to deal with a huge backlog of legal immigrants, which forces long delays for people trying to get in legally.
Spartz also blames Biden for incorrectly allocating resources.
“He needs to send other agencies to deal with the situation he created,” she said. Spartz said she witnessed one person from Health and Human Services in a facility filled with thousands of children.
Spartz said she would bring the issues up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Pelosi is currently not speaking to Republicans.
“Democrats are riding on this bi-partisan ship. But, I don’t see it at all.”
Pres. Biden has assigned Vice Pres. Kamala Harris to deal with the immigration situation.
