Rep. Michael Cloud, who will join former President Donald Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and other congressional and state leaders on their tour of U.S.-Mexico border sites in the McAllen area, said Wednesday on Newsmax that the announcement about the trip alone has already highlighted the differences between the Trump and Biden administrations,
"Hopefully, that contrast will help push the agenda needed to make the changes needed here that push back against the cartel influence here at the border," the Texas Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
Cloud said he and several others went to a spot of the wall where the Biden administration had stopped construction, and just around the wall's end, they found the ground "littered" with wristbands cartels put on migrants to keep track of them.
"One human smuggler said they do that so they don't accidentally kill the wrong person," said Cloud, holding up a couple of the bands. "You know, it's horrific that this administration has allowed the policy to be put in place that continues to aid and abed these criminal cartels along our southern border, and they're beginning to have a corrupting influence here in the United States as well."
Cloud added that his office gets calls "all the time" from ranchers who are concerned about the migrant situation and their own safety.
"They're concerned about their family walking their very own property," said Cloud. "Crime is going up in communities. My district is just two hours north of where we are right now, and crime is going up in those areas. We're seeing the effects of it. Our local law enforcement has to deal with it every single day. "
Cloud also described the "horrific" impact the immigrant surge is having on the region.
"(There are) ranchers who find tragically dead bodies on their grounds," said Cloud. "One business center had four vehicles stolen already by migrants, and then horrifically, did you hear about the rape trees? It's just horrible, where cartel members proudly display the undergarments of women they have abused."
But the Biden administration has not stopped such actions or mitigated the influence of the cartels, said Cloud.
"Thankfully we will have President Trump down here again," he said. "He was willing to stand up and make some tough decisions to push back against this."
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is engaging in "mental gymnastics" to get its message across, whether it's about the border, the economy, and more.
"It's gotten to be extremely difficult because the truth is, and everybody knows, that the border was the secure it has been in decades," said Cloud.
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