The governor of Florida toured the Texas border this weekend, traveling with Governor Greg Abbott, Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd and other local, state and federal officials. In June, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he would send 50 state police officers to Texas.
Since then, DeSantis says his officers have detained 2,800 people who crossed illegally and assisted in more than 100 arrests for felonies, including human and drug trafficking and stolen cars.
"They've been very busy, and they've had a really big impact," he says. "I think those numbers are eye-popping. Certainly, we wouldn't have been able to ring up those numbers a year ago. There's just no way."
McCraw says cartels have been working with gangs in Texas to move drugs and people across the border. He says police from Florida have worked with DPS troopers to target smuggling networks.
"There's no single organized crime group in the world right now that's more violent, more ruthless and more powerful than the Mexican cartels," McCraw says.
"There's a reality people need to come to grips with," says Texas Governor Greg Abbott. "That is almost everyone who comes across the border does so having to work with cartels and traffickers."
Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris toured the border around El Paso. President Joe Biden named Harris to oversee his administration's efforts to address immigration.
"Let's recognize with a sense of humanity that these issues must be addressed in a way that is informed by fact and informed by reality," she said.
Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, says 2021 is on pace to "exceed any other calendar year in the history of the border patrol."
"We've never seen anything like the explosion in illegal immigration like we have under the Biden Administration," he says.
McCraw says DPS special agents and game wardens have been working with officers from Florida to prioritize patrols in areas known to be exploited by cartels.
"Certainly, game wardens have been on the river with our tactical marine unit around the clock, 24/7 in the hot zones along those lines," he says. "Their agents have been working with our agents to target stash houses and the smuggling networks that are supporting the Mexican cartels."
During Harris' trip to Texas last month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, "I am hopeful Congress will pass immigration reform to fix a system everyone recognizes is broken."
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