Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put President Joe Biden to shame this week by making a real visit to the southern border to assess the illegal immigration crisis firsthand.
RFK met with law enforcement, illegal migrants, local government officials and charities dealing with the mass influx of people in Yuma, Arizona, he told NewsNation.
It’s a “dystopian nightmare” that “clearly could have been prevented,” he said.
Contrast RFK’s fact-finding mission with Biden’s three-hour photo-op visit to the border in El Paso, Texas, in January.
During the brief stop on his way to Mexico, Biden met with no migrants, did not see the makeshift migrant encampment on the city’s streets, and spent just minutes at the border wall, CNN reported.
Kennedy called Biden’s policies, which have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to stream into the U.S. from around the world, “unsustainable.”
Filming at a portion of unfinished border wall near Yuma early Tuesday morning, Kennedy said he had seen approximately 150 people cross into the U.S. in the previous hour.
At 2 am this morning, I visited the border outside of Yuma, Arizona where thousands of migrants are crossing the border each week. You have to see it with your own eyes. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/Fbl4mPr44A
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 6, 2023
He recounted that he and his team had spoken with the illegal migrants and learned they were from places as diverse as West Africa, Peru, Afghanistan, China, India and Bangladesh.
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“Altogether, people have come across right here from 117 nations in the last couple of years. In three years in total, 7 million people have come across the border illegally,” he said.
Kennedy explained that once people are apprehended at the border, they are taken to Border Patrol facilities where they are processed and released on their own recognizance into the U.S. about four or five days later.
“Most of them are never seen or heard from again,” he said.
“The stories that we heard from these people are absolutely heartbreaking. This is a humanitarian crisis because of the understanding across the globe that we now have an open border here,” Kennedy added.
He noted that many of the illegal migrants are abused as they make their way to the U.S. border.
“There are all kinds of just horrific, terrible, terrible stories. And this is not a good thing for our country. It’s not a good thing for these people. It is unsustainable,” Kennedy concluded.
The Democratic candidate posted a picture with Yuma County Sheriff Leon Willmot, whom he quoted as saying, “This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s a health and public safety issue. It’s a humanitarian crisis.”
Yuma County Sheriff Leon Willmot. “This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s a health and public safety issue. It’s a humanitarian crisis.” I agree. I’m at the border learning about the situation here. So many heartbreaking stories. pic.twitter.com/fbdqqBznhL
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 7, 2023
Kennedy also met with farmers from the region, pointing out, “Yuma County provides 90% of the green leafy vegetables, like iceberg lettuce, arugula, spinach, and broccoli, to American tables between November and April.”
I can confirm, having driven through the area many times, that it is made up of vast irrigated farmlands.
Kennedy wrote, “The tsunami of migrants walking across farm fields and defecating in irrigation canals threatens the safety of that food supply. Last year, one of their neighbors had to plow under 88 acres of broccoli and personally absorb the $10k per acre cost after migrants tainted irrigation water.”
I met with local farmers Cory Mellon, Alex Mueller, Hank Auza, and Robert Barkley in Yuma, Arizona. Yuma County provides 90% of the green leafy vegetables, like iceberg lettuce, arugula, spinach, and broccoli, to American tables between November and April. The tsunami of migrants… pic.twitter.com/OKUsEw9I0C
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 7, 2023
Last August, then-Gov. Doug Ducey filled in gaps in the border wall with shipping containers in part to prevent migrants from trampling and contaminating the crops.
However, the Biden administration sued the state of Arizona in federal court, and Ducey agreed in December to remove the containers.
The administration pledged to begin filling in some of the gaps with a permanent wall — but obviously not at the place RFK Jr. visited, at least not yet.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley reported that the shipping containers were removed in early January and that work was set to begin to close four gaps in the wall.
#BREAKING CBP is scheduled to resume construction of the border wall in Yuma—Work will begin next week to close 4 gaps in the border barrier located near Morelos Dam.
CBP says the project is anticipated to be done Summer 2023.
The shipping container removal in Yuma is complete. pic.twitter.com/DYjO3rcrSL
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) January 5, 2023
In May, Bradley showed that construction was underway and that Customs and Border Patrol expected the gaps near Yuma to be filled by September.
AZ: Wall update: The gate is coming along here at the Yuma dam.
It’s set to be a working gate that border patrol and local farmers will be able to access. There are several gates like it along the border wall already.
CBP says construction on the wall is slated to be completed… pic.twitter.com/v76lUQ4X2V
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) May 25, 2023
Fox News reported in January, citing Customs and Border Patrol, that migrant crossings in Yuma increased 171 percent between 2021 and 2022.
Further, about 1 million migrants had crossed into Arizona illegally by that point in Biden’s presidency.
On the Southwest border overall, CBP data shows that over 1.4 million illegal migrants have been apprehended this fiscal year as of April.
A record 2.38 million entered the U.S. illegally in FY 2022, up from a record 1.73 million in FY 2021 during the first year of Biden’s term.
Kennedy, at the very least, is showing he takes the border crisis seriously and knows it must end.
Biden seems content to let it continue for the duration of his presidency.
