Democrat Henry Cuellar Knows What ‘Border Crisis’ Needs: For Him To Go On Fox News And Bash Biden
Only Secretary Mayor Pete should try.
Rep. Henry Cuellar is the anti-choice Democrat (I know!) from Texas who voted against the 2021 Women’s Health Protection Act, which would’ve preserved access to abortion nationwide. He’s a hard sell politically now, post-Dobbs, and he’s not making things easier with his hardline immigration stance.
Immigration is a weak polling issue for President Joe Biden, thanks to Republicans spinning lies about his supposed “open border policies,” which don’t exist. Unfortunately, Cuellar is helping promote that false narrative. During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Cuellar seemingly agreed with Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, also a Democrat, who claims, “I believe 100 percent [Biden] does bear some responsibility for this crisis. I haven’t heard from anybody in the administration. The president hasn’t put out a statement. The vice president, I haven’t heard from anybody.”
Cuellar didn’t even try defending Biden’s record on immigration but instead argued for “repercussions at the border.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, and the answer he provided was appalling: “You’ve got to deport people, and you’ve got to show images of people being deported. When was the last time we saw people going the other way instead of just seeing people flow in?”
Yes, desperate people will turn around and go home if they’re confronted with wacky highlight reels from “America’s Funniest Deportations.” Cuellar went on to rave about the glory days of deportations in 2015, under Barack Obama, and in 2019, during Donald Trump’s reign of terror. He also offered this insulting both-sides BS:
“So, again, I think Trump went too much to the right by doing the separation of families and kids,” he said, “and then I think President Biden, the administration is not doing enough. So, we’ve got to find the right balance.”
In reality, the Trump administration committed crimes against humanity, including caging children. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has overseen a 42 percent decrease in illegal border crossings since May, right when Biden lifted Title 42, the pandemic-era border restriction. (Cuellar had argued for extending Title 42.) Yes, illegal border crossings are still relatively high, but far from “doing nothing,” the Biden administration has ramped up deportations.
Biden worked to launch accelerated deportations during this first year in office. You can debate the merits of his immigration policy, but you can’t honestly say he promotes open borders or is blithely presiding over a humanitarian crisis.
“You’ve got to listen to the community leaders like the mayor of Eagle Pass, the mayor of El Paso and other places, they got to listen to communities at the border.”
This plays into the false notion that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who was stuck entrusted with the border issue, don’t care about the people in border communities.
“And again, one, you have repercussions at the border. That is you deport people that are not supposed to be here,” Cuellar went on. “Number two, you got to play defense on the other 20-yard line and it’s very important. You know, people give credit to President Trump. But if you look at it, it was Mexico doing a lot more just like they did in 2015. 2015, 2019 …”
Predictably, rightwing media outlets such as The Daily Wire seized on Cuellar’s interview and ran headlines about how the centrist Democrat had “slammed Biden for worsening the border crisis.” Cuellar demanding “repercussions” at the border implies that there currently are none, and lawlessness reigns.
Even after Democratic leadership saved his anti-abortion ass during his last primary, Cuellar still goes on Fox News, seemingly oblivious to its obvious anti-Biden agenda. If Cuellar is truly serious about improving the situation at the border, he should just call the White House instead of mugging for MAGA TV.
Follow Stephen Robinson on Bluesky and Threads.
Subscribe to his YouTube channel for more fun content.
Catch SER on his podcast, The Play Typer Guy.
The dirty little secret is that Republicans don't actually want to reform immigration policy. It's far too valuable as a wedge issue. And besides, there's an entire shadow economy based on cheap labor.
A church lady Faceplace friend of mine reposted one of those "Close the Borders! Enough is Enough" memes on her page, and because I couldn't help myself, I replied "Fine with me. Mississippi sucks, and nobody with any good sense would want to come there anyway." Pretty sure I'm about to get blocked or unfriended but could honestly care less (she's a sweet lady who should've known better than to post stupid shit like this).