Border Crisis: Water Scarcity Forces Texas’ Last Sugar Mill to Close

Sugar Cane Farmer

The border crisis has taken on many forms in Texas, from crime to fentanyl poisonings to farmers and ranchers losing their livelihoods.

Another casualty of the border crisis is the U.S. State Department’s failure to hold accountable Mexican government authorities to a 1944 Treaty of Utilization of Waters, resulting in Texas’ last sugar mill shut down, the industry contends. The Rio Grande Valley is bracing for an expected initial $100 million in economic losses as a result.

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FBI Director: Smuggling Organizations Connected to ISIS Coming Through U.S. Border

FBI Director Christopher Wray

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday confirmed that a smuggling organization working with the terrorist organization ISIS is funneling criminals through the U.S. border. He also said the FBI is currently investigating its operations that ‘we’re very concerned about.’

In a U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing held on Monday on worldwide threats to the United States, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, asked Wray about threats coming through the U.S. border.

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Tennessee National Guard Deploying to Southern Border

Tennessee’s governor Saturday announced that more Tennessee National Guard members will be deployed to the U.S. southern border with Mexico. 

“America continues to face an unprecedented border crisis, and people across the nation are experiencing the devastating consequences of rising crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking,” said Gov. Bill Lee (R) in a press release. “Governors are working together, taking immediate action to do what the federal government won’t do, and that is secure our border. I commend Tennessee’s National Guard troops for answering this important call to service and providing critical support.”

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Trump Calls Border Crisis ‘Biden invasion’

Donald Trump And Gov Greg At Border

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said the border crisis is a “a Joe Biden invasion. This is a Biden invasion.”

He met with Gov. Greg Abbott in Eagle Pass, Texas, to tour a new military base established through Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. “What they showed me is nothing less than incredible. This is a military operation. This is like a war,” he said.

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Former Trump Campaign Spokesman Steve Cortes Says Murder of Georgia Nursing Student Was ‘100 Percent Preventable’

Laken Riley

Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, said the murder of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was “100 percent preventable” if it weren’t for the “radical open borders agenda” of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Venezuela, was arrested and charged last week for his alleged murder of Riley, who died from blunt-force trauma to her head.

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U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty Travels to the U.S.-Mexico Border

Senator Bill Hagerty at Southern Border

Tennessee U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday with Tennessee sheriffs and mayors to meet with law enforcement and property owners.

“I’m back at the southern border here in Texas,” Hagerty said in a video message posted to X. “We’re just in the outskirts of Eagle Pass right now. I brought another delegation of sheriffs and mayors and law enforcement from Tennessee just like I did two years ago. What we’re seeing is even worse than it was two year ago.”

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Laura Loomer Details Trip to the Darién Gap to Document ‘Most Dangerous’ Passageway for Illegal Aliens Crossing into North America

Laura Loomer

Investigative journalist Laura Loomer is traveling to the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama for a week-long trip to document how illegal aliens and other dangerous groups utilize the only land path connecting Central and South America to get to North America.

The Darién Gap, which consists of more than 60 miles of dense rainforest, steep mountains, and vast swamps, is not only a passageway for migrants from South America, Loomer said, but a hotspot for Hamas and Hezbollah networks, drug cartels, and human trafficking groups.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Introduces the Send Them Back Act

Ogles Illegal Immigrants

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make all illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. since January 20, 2021 eligible for expedited removal from the country.

Ogles’ bill is titled the Sending Evading Non-Documented Threats Home Especially Migrants Biden Accepted Carelessly and Knowingly (SEND THEM BACK) Act.

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Commentary: The Border Crisis Is Front and Center in Battleground States and Even Liberals Have Had Enough

Illegal Immigrants CBP

Despite economic issues dominating voters’ minds this election year, the unprecedented chaos at the southern border is forcing immigration into the spotlight, and nearly two-thirds of voters blame Biden for the border crisis.

A blistering new Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey shows the share of voters who say immigration will be the most important issue to them on election day has risen in six of the seven swing states polled.

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Nearly 600 Illegal Aliens May Be Transported to Middle Tennessee, DHS Notice Says

A notice from last September by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that a total of 573 “noncitizens” from Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras, and Mexico intended on traveling to Franklin, Nashville, Davidson County, and Murfreesboro following their release from DHS custody.

The notice, dated as the week ending September 16, 2023, is titled “Intended Destination of Noncitizens Processed at the Southwest Border.”

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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green Says He’s ‘Working Hard’ to Secure the Votes to Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Rep. Mark Green

Tennessee U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green (R-TN-07) joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his efforts in the impeachment process of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Green, who led his Republican colleagues in voting to advance two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas out of committee on Wednesday, told Leahy that Mayorkas not only refused to enforce the law himself, but directed his staff to do the same.

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Border Patrol Facing Loss of Agents from Retirement, Flat Recruitment as Border Crisis Intensifies

CBP Agent

The nearly 10,000 border patrol agents eligible for retirement by 2028 and static recruitment numbers threaten to undermine future efforts to secure the Southern border, even as the current immigration crisis escalates.

By 2028, a total of 9,828 current border patrol agents will be eligible for retirement, according to numbers provided to Transport Dive by a Customs and Border Protection official. The agency, which has been plagued by a recruitment shortfalls for years, says it is preparing to deal with the fallout if even a fraction of the eligible agents retire on schedule.

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Tennessee Attorney General Joins Letter Supporting Texas’ Border Defense Barriers

Skrmetti Border

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined a coalition of 26 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Biden administration proclaiming support for the steps Texas has taken at its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrant crossings.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal entries into the U.S.

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Arizona AG Announces Fentanyl Seizures as Border Crisis Rages On

Arizona Fentanyl

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said Thursday that 525,000 illegal fentanyl pills were seized by the government.

“This operation is a significant step forward in our ongoing fight against criminal drug distribution in our state,” Mayes said in a statement. “The collaboration between my office and our local and federal law enforcement partners has been vital to our efforts at keeping this deadly drug off our streets. We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute these crimes to the fullest extent of the law.” 

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Leahy Tells Bannon Texas Gov. Abbott’s Response to Supreme Court’s Decision on Border Wire Sounds a Lot Like Andrew Jackson

MLP

Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star Michael Patrick Leahy joined Steve Bannon’s War Room on Wednesday to discuss Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in favor of the Biden administration, which allows Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire the state installed on its border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing.

In a statement released Wednesday, Abbott argued President Joe Biden has “refused to enforce” current federal laws protecting states, “including immigration laws on the books right now.”

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Introduces Bill to Empower Border States to Place Temporary Barriers on Federal Land

Blackburn Border Wall

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a group of her Republican colleagues in introducing a bill that would authorize U.S. states bordering Canada or Mexico to place temporary structures on federal land to secure its border.

While the U.S. Constitution currently provides for the protection of states “against invasion” and reserves the right of states to defend themselves, states are unable to place structures on federal land without first obtaining authorization from the federal government under current law.

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Officials Say Border Crisis Tied to Break-Ins Orchestrated by Columbians, Chileans

The border crisis has hit several milestones, with an estimated 10 million illegal entries since January 2021, increased reports of infectious disease spreading, and a crime wave being reported in states nationwide.

A county executive from Long Island, New York, told U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee members at a hearing held earlier this month that illegal foreign nationals released into the U.S. by the Biden administration are dealing drugs, stealing cars, burglarizing and committing violent crimes.  

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Immigration Courts Add 1 Million Cases to Backlog as Border Crisis Worsens

The immigration court backlog increased by a whopping one million cases in a single year as the surge at the southern border continues, according to a new report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

The number of pending cases in U.S. immigration courts reached three million in November, marking a new record, TRAC, which analyzes data provided by the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), reported Monday. The backlog is expected to only worsen with the continued record flow of illegal immigration at the southern border.

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Commentary: Polling from the Frontlines of the Border Crisis

Illegal Immigrant Arrests

Arizona voters have had more than enough of Biden’s border radicalism, as revealed by our brand-new battleground state polling. 

Immigration abuses alarm Arizona residents who occupy the front lines of the Biden border disaster. In Arizona, law enforcement, local officials, and regular citizens must cope, every day, with the tangible reality of the safety and logistical nightmare created by Biden’s border recklessness. These hard-working citizens also deal most acutely with the lasting fallout of uncontrolled migration, especially regarding unaffordable housing and stagnant real wages. 

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Commentary: Biden Plans to Vastly Expand ‘Refugee’ Applicants to Circumvent Border Crisis

While there is a dearth of data showing the border crisis is costing Biden heavily in polls, Biden’s plan to dramatically expand immigration and resettle record-breaking numbers of individuals from Latin America through the refugee program is wildly out of step with public opinion.  

Not only have the massive spikes in illegal border crossings strained border patrol resources and posed threats to national security, but the Biden Administration’s response is to vastly expand the number of individuals entering the U.S. under the refugee program.

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The Border Crisis Is Crippling U.S. Companies’ Supply Chains

Trade across the U.S.-Mexico border is being severely hampered due to an ongoing migrant crisis that is threatening businesses’ supply chains, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The southern border is facing a massive influx of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally, with the U.S. Border Patrol reporting that a record high of 22,000 illegal migrants were being held in custody on Tuesday as opposed to just 7,696 on June 8. Trade that U.S. companies rely on for their supply chains is being hampered due to delays at points of entry that are being shut down by Border Patro to address the surge, according to the WSJ.

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Rep. Mark Green Reveals ‘Shocking’ Economic Impacts Border Crisis Is Having on America During House Hearing

Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, delivered opening remarks Wednesday during the committee’s hearing to “examine the financial cost of the historic national security and humanitarian crisis at the Southwest border for communities across the country.”

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Biden’s Border Crisis Is Helping Fuel a Surge in Mexico’s Economy, New Data Shows

The border crisis under President Joe Biden has fueled Mexico’s economy through an increase in Mexican migrants in the U.S. sending money back home, according to multiple reports.

Remittances, the money sent by Mexicans working abroad sent back home, increased from $33.5 billion in 2018 to $60 billion in 2023 after a record number of migrants crossed the southern border, according to The Associated Press. From 2018 to 2022, Mexico’s poverty rate declined from 49.9% of the population to 43.5%, declining by 5.7 million, according to a study conducted by Coneval, an autonomous organization coordinated by the Secretariat of Welfare in Mexico.

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New National Coalition of Sheriffs Forms to Address Border Crisis

Following through on a pledge he made during his first border security summit in Arizona and ahead of his next border trip to Texas on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced the creation of a new national coalition of sheriffs committed to working together to combat crime stemming from the border crisis.

More than 90 sheriffs from 24 states are part of the coalition. Notably absent from the list are Texas border sheriffs who’ve been combating border-related crime for years.

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Nearly 9 in 10 in New Poll Hold Feds Responsible for Border Crisis, Most Expect States to Fix

Almost 87 percent of Americans blame the federal government for the border crisis, according to a new poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group for Convention of States Action.

“With local and state government law enforcement resources overwhelmed by the large increase in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers needing assistance and increased drug cartel activity,” respondents were prompted, “do you believe it is the responsibility of states or the Federal government to handle these increased costs at the southern border?”

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Commentary: The Border Crisis and Violent Crime

When Joe Biden chose to revoke the Trump Administration’s border rules, he sparked an unprecedented crisis at the southern border. The illegal immigrant population has already risen by 2 million since Biden’s inauguration, and the flow has not stopped. Some of the consequences of this crisis are indisputable—a strain on border communities, a fiscal burden for taxpayers, and a weakening of the rule of law.

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Local Arizona Leaders Detail Reality of Border Crisis at Hearing Democrats Boycotted

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing at the southern border Thursday focused on the effects of the border crisis on a local Arizona community. “The Biden Border Crisis,” marked the second hearing the committee held on the situation at the southern border this Congress. 

“It’s about time we told the truth. It’s about time we fix this problem,” Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-N.J., said of the border crisis during an interview with The Daily Signal shortly before the hearing began.  

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More than 200,000 Migrants Came to U.S. in December amid Mounting Border Crisis: CBP

Authorities encountered 216,162 migrants at the southwest land border in December of last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

That figures marks an 11 percent increase in unique encounters from November of the same year. The federal agency attributed the surge to influx of Cuban and Nicaraguan individuals fleeing authoritarian regimes in those countries.

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Commentary: America’s Border Crisis Is Biden-Made

The Biden administration’s open border policies and its refusal to fully enforce federal immigration laws have imposed huge costs on local communities across the country. Border states are groaning under the enormous cost of sheltering, feeding, educating, policing and providing medical care for tens of thousands of illegal aliens.

There are humanitarian costs, as well, paid by those who are assaulted and killed by the human traffickers, those who die from the fentanyl flooding across the border and those victimized by vicious criminals who have entered illegally.

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