Cuellar: I get more information from the Mexican government than I do the Biden Administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar says he learns more about border policy from the Mexican government than he does the Biden Administration.
The Laredo Democrat’s criticism of the White House’s approach to border security and immigration was voiced in a keynote address he gave at the Mexico Institute’s 7th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference.
In a Q&A following his remarks, Andrew I. Rudman, director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, asked Cuellar what metrics the Biden Administration has put in place to reopen the U.S.-Mexico border to so-called “non-essential” travel.
Cuellar responded that he and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, added language to an appropriations bill last December that dealt with ways to reopen the border. However, he said the Biden Administration is not taking any notice.
“We exactly asked them, hey, tell us your metrics, be more transparent, tell us how you are going to open up the border. Right now we are working in a void. Nobody understands what they (the Biden Administration) are doing,” Cuellar said.
“They don’t listen to people at the border. I am not talking about myself. I am talking about the businessmen, the county judges, the sheriffs, the mayors, the folks and the businesses at the border. So, there is no… as you mentioned… the key is, there are no metrics.”
Cuellar said border communities would like to know when land ports of entries are going to reopen to Mexican visa holders. He pointed out that before the coronavirus pandemic, 18 million Mexicans crossed the border each year, spending $19 billion in the United States.
“We are just at a whim of the administration and I just wish the administration would understand this. And every time I have talked to the secretary I have told him. With all due respect they give me answers that do not really make sense,” Cuellar said.
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Editor's Note: The attached podcast contains the raw audio from Congressman Cuellar's remarks at the Mexico Institute’s 7th Annual Building a Competitive U.S.-Mexico Border Conference.
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