Marco Rubio says Biden administration is making the border crisis worse

During an interview with Jesse Watters Primetime, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that many of the ongoing crises in the nation have been made worse by the Biden administration. 

When discussing a viral video showing migrants dressed in camouflage rappelling down the border wall, host Jesse Watters said that the border wall should have been at least 10 feet taller. In response, Rubio addressed how the wall has not yet been completed.  

“[White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre] said, ‘Oh, [the Trump Administration] couldn't even finish the wall.’ They couldn't finish the wall because Democrats wouldn't vote for the funding. They literally would not approve a dollar more. They called the wall a racist idea,” the senator said. 

“At the end of the day, it's not just the migrants that are coming across…. Most people will just turn themselves in, because they know if you turn yourself in, you're going to be allowed to stay in the country or be given a work permit. You'll be told, ‘Show up in 10 years or five years for your asylum hearing.’ But some people don't [turn themselves in]. Those are the ones you got to worry about, because why aren't they turning themselves in?” 

Rubio’s comments come as U.S. border agents are encountering an unprecedented number of migrants. Since October, more than 1.8 million individuals have attempted to cross the border, four times more than those who were intercepted at the border in 2020. 

Rubio also addressed how this number might not entirely be accurate, as many migrants that have managed to cross the border have not been detected by border agents. 

“You've seen some of those images of the gotaways. Just the other day there was a drone that was flying over, and within an hour or so, hundreds of people crossed [the border],” Rubio said. 

In June, the Department of Homeland Security reported that more than half a million “gotaways” have managed to cross the U.S-Mexico border, surpassing the figure for 2021. 

“It's also the drugs. We've got an uncontrolled flow of drugs across the U.S. border, and it's killing people in cities all across this country. This administration has the face to send the vice president on television and say, ‘Well, the border is secure, or at least to the extent that we're trying.’ They're not trying. They're actively and openly inviting people to come here illegally,” Rubio added.