'Deadliest year by far': Open borders endangering US citizens, illegal migrants alike

Lax security at the southern border has unleashed a humanitarian crisis endangering the lives and welfare of U.S citizens and illegal migrants alike — and the Biden administration won't even acknowledge there's a problem, border security experts and GOP congressional candidates warn in "On the Ballot, Open Borders," a new Heritage Action for America special report hosted by John Solomon.

"It's not only a humanitarian crisis — we have a security crisis going on down there," said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of homeland security during the Trump administration. 

"There's not a lot of publican attention being focused on it," he said. "There are more and more migrants dying in that desert and on that river than ever before because of the policies of this administration."

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation recently designating Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and called on the Biden administration to do the same. It's a good start, according to Wolf, but more needs to be done

"The status quo that we've had for the past several decades is no longer acceptable," said Wolf. "We need to take action. I think we need to take specific action against the cartels, whether designating them as ... a foreign terrorist organization — that may be part of it — or we maybe take some separate action outside of that as well."

GOP Florida governor Ron DeSantis made headlines last week for sending planeloads of migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. 

"The Martha's Vineyard wealthy democratic elite couldn't even bear to have these illegal aliens sharing their island for 24 hours," Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters said on the special report. "They mobilized the National Guard and deported them immediately. So of course, it's just more champagne socialism and left-wing hypocrisy."

If elected, Masters said, his main border security priorities will include finishing former President Trump's wall, beefing up the border patrol and upgrading surveillance technology.

"I believe in the border wall," Masters said. "I think we need to finish it. The wall is a key piece of technology, but it's just one piece of it. We need a lot more border patrol agents, and they need more resources and manpower. I'm also a tech guy. I think we need drones. We need thermal imaging cameras. We need basically to map out every inch of the border and have a bird's eye view of who's coming across."

This year has been the most deadly ever for migrants crossing the border, according to the chief of the border patrol agents' union. 

"It's going to be the deadliest year by far," said Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council. "When you look at the last year prior to President Biden taking office, the most deaths we ever had was a little over 300. Now we're right at 800. It's the most dangerous situation we've ever seen by far, and I'm going to go back to the point that Democrats do not care."

The indifference to border security has facilitated a flood of deadly narcotics into the country, Judd emphasized.

"Right now the leading cause of death in the United States, among 18-year-olds to 45-year-olds is fentanyl overdose," he said. "This is something that's coming from our southwest border. It's being facilitated by China. The precursors come into Mexico. It's being manufactured by the cartels and crossing our border. These are transnational criminal organizations, something that we didn't see prior to the Biden administration."

GOP congressional candidate Cassy Garcia said the southern border is worse than she's ever seen it. 

"I was raised down in the Rio Grande Valley for the past 37 years, and this is the worst I've ever seen the crisis, a humanitarian crisis on our southern border," said Garcia, who is running for a House seat in Texas' 28th Congressional District.

The issue is personal for Garcia, whose husband is a border patrol agent.

"The administration is quiet," Garcia stated. "The left is quiet. No one's talking about it. But you know what? I live and breathe this every single day, and enough is enough. People are frustrated. The people of district 28 are sick and tired of the Biden administration ignoring the crisis on our southern border."

If Democrats think an open border policy is a way to win favor with Hispanic voters, they are badly mistaken, Garcia believes.

"I'm running for Congress to defend faith, family and freedom," she said. "And we are hardworking, this district that's 80% Hispanic. Hispanics do not want to see an open border. They want a strong and secure border, and we support legal immigration, not illegal immigration."