OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrat New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez made a stunning admission that President Joe Biden and his administration are not going to be thrilled about before giving him a nickname he is not going to appreciate.
Speaking on the NBC Sunday news show “Meet The Press” the senator, who has been at odds with President Biden before, said that it is the Mexican drug cartels that control the Southern border.
“All right. Let me move to what happened to the four Americans this weekend. What did it expose which is the fact that this is an administration in Mexico that has chosen a different tact in dealing with the cartels meaning they don’t want to deal with them the way the previous administration did and they don’t seem to want to work with the United States and get our help with dealing with the cartels. How do you deal with this when you have a Mexican government that may not be on the same page?” NBC News anchor Chuck Todd said.
“This is one of our great challenges. President López Obrador talked about, when the took office, kisses and not bullets. That’s not working very well. It is the cartels that run the border communities, not the government of Mexico,” the senator said.
“Mexico has a responsibility, first and foremost to its own citizens to establish safety and security within its own territory and to those who visit its country, as well. So we need to up dramatically our engagement in Mexico and it can’t be about economics and it has to be about safety and security, as well,” he said.
“I am afraid that we are headed in the wrong direction on that and on democracy questions, as well. This is a present danger that we have to deal with and we have to engage the Mexicans in a way that says you have to do a lot more in your security. We can help them and we have intelligence and other information we can share, but we need them to enforce in their own country,” he said.
But even as four Americans were kidnapped, and two were murdered, by a Mexican drug cartel the senator said he does not know if he would name them as terrorist organizations.
“We should save that for truly terrorist organizations in the world,” he said.
And in another swipe at President Biden he said that Biden would be an “Asylum Denier-in-Chief” if he brings back family detention at the border.
“If the administration does go down this path, I am afraid that the president will become the Asylum Denier-in-Chief,” he said.
EARLIER: The Biden administration is reportedly considering restarting family detention for migrants. #MTP@SenatorMenendez (D-N.J.): “If the administration does go down this path, I am afraid that the president will become the Asylum Denier-in-Chief.” pic.twitter.com/LtfuOZA5kH
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 12, 2023
Chris Magnus resigned as the commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner a few months ago. Reports suggested that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and others forced him out and attempted to blame him for many of the failures at the southern border.
“The President has accepted the resignation of Christopher Magnus, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. President Biden appreciates Commissioner Magnus’ nearly forty years of service and the contributions he made to police reform during his tenure as police chief in three U.S. cities. The President thanks Mr. Magnus for his service at CBP and wishes him well,” the White House said in a statement.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Senate-confirmed Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection over the past year. It has been a privilege and honor to be part of your administration. I am submitting my resignation effective immediately but wish you and your administration the very best going forward. Thank you again for this tremendous opportunity,” Magnus said in his resignation letter.
Magnus has joined an organization focused on police reform. He also recently spoke about the ongoing immigration crisis and wasted little time slamming the Biden administration.
Sadly—right on point. https://t.co/98KESs01Ri
— Chris Magnus (@CMAGNUS20011) March 2, 2023
“Sadly–right on point,” Magnus tweeted in response to an LA Times article that detailed how President Biden’s administration is proposing a new plan similar to one enacted by the Trump administration, which essentially argued that people who cross the border without permission should not be able to easily apply for asylum in the United States.
