Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Thursday that the number of got-aways at the southern border is worse than it seems.
Blackburn appeared on "Wake Up America," during which host Rob Finnerty noted that there had been 2,465 reported got-aways per day at the U.S.-Mexico border from Oct. 1 to Jan. 21.
"Of the got-away numbers, we have found these to be just incredible, when you look at what is happening there," Blackburn said. "Got-aways are people that the border patrol can see and they can't get to them.
"Now, there is also another category of got-aways – the unknown got-aways. And these are the ones that find clothing, or they will find tracks, and they see people coming to pick them up that they never saw these individuals on surveillance, but they know they were there.
"These are the really bad guys. They're ones that more of them have a criminal background. They are the are the drug smugglers, the human traffickers that are trying not to get caught."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show a record 251,487 encounters at the southern border in December.
Blackburn said that the increasing crime and drug problems caused by the migrant crisis have caused some "movement" on the issue in Washington.
"The movement that we are seeing is in Congress – you're beginning to have some bipartisan groups go to the border," she told Newsmax. "This is a very good thing. Our Democratic colleagues need to go, they need to see this firsthand.
"They are hearing from their constituents. Every town's a border town, every state a border state, because of the drugs, the human trafficking, the sex trafficking, the crime that they're bringing into communities."
Jon Anfinsen, president of Del Rio Border Patrol Union, also appeared during the segment and said President Joe Biden's recent trip to the southern border was "completely disingenuous."
"If they wanted him to actually see what was happening, they wouldn't have taken him to the port of entry to show him some demonstrations there, what they do," Anfinsen told Newsmax. "Take him at the border, show him where people are actually crossing.
"Unfortunately, the choice to take him to El Paso was also on purpose because they had more control what they could show in that area."
Anfinsen said that for Biden to see the reality of the border situation, he needed to go to an area such as Del Rio, Texas, or Yuma, Arizona.
"It's actually crazier [there], it's harder to deal with because there's so much going on at the border they wouldn't have been able to sanitize it properly," Anfinsen said.
Before discussing the border, Blackburn was asked if she had been contacted by freshman Eric Schmitt, R- Mo., who wants a Senate Judiciary Committee member to give up a seat for him.
"I don't spend a lot of time talking about conversations with other members," Blackburn said. "I'll simply say I am honored to be a member of the Judiciary Committee. I am honored to continue to represent the people of Tennessee and to work for the people of America on that committee."
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