By Mark Anderson
DONNA, Texas—On April 9, yet another contingent of federal legislators, professing deep concern for what ap- pears to be the most serious breach of the Southern border since Texas became a state, visited the Rio Grande Valley’s infamous Donna detention center for illegal entrants—which, according to this writer’s firsthand observations—has nearly tripled in size over the last six to eight weeks.
But as a gate attendant at the center told this AFP writer just after 9:30 a.m. that morning, Re- publican Whip Steve Scalise (La.) had just arrived but would not be giving a press conference that day to either summarize his visit to the center, or recap his trip to the nearby border fence the day before. However, immediate calls to Scalise’s field offices subsequently yielded a press release, dated April 9, from staffer Hunter Lovell, in which Scalise provided an overview of the situation:
Last night, [April 8], I spent a number of hours with Border Patrol agents. About 10 of my colleagues were there. We saw some very alarming things. Somewhere around midnight, we went out to one of the processing facilities where they come in right by the Rio Grande River. And we were there less than an hour and saw dozens of people coming across the border, knowing that the door is wide open because of President [Joe] Biden’s new policy.
As for the Donna detention facility tour, to which AFP and all other press were denied entry on April 9, Scalise, representing himself and his congressional colleagues, filled in some of the blanks by stating through the same press release:
They say now there [are] over 4,000 people crammed into that facility (way beyond capacity) . . . and we’re in the middle of a pandemic where they’re telling you [that] you can’t go to a lot of . . . places of business.
Scalise, who understands that illegal aliens from around 50 countries have been showing up at the border—allegedly including three Yemeni nationals and one Serbian national suspected of having terrorist connections, according to Epoch Times—added about the Donna center:
[Biden] got rid of the “Remain in Mexico” policy. It was a highly effective tool President [Donald] Trump used to work with Mexico, to keep people seeking asylum on the other side of the border, in Mexico, while they make those re- quests. . . . We saw . . . scores of young children, and I’m talking months old, maybe just a few years old. The sexual assaults, the things that are happening to these kids on the journey, it’s not only heartbreaking, it’s criminal. And it’s totally preventable.
Referring to how the drug cartels’ activities are enabled by the situation at the border, Scalise re- marked:
The drug cartels of Mexico are making [up to $15 million a day] off of this smuggling trade, knowing that America’s borders [are] open. They’re the ones running people to the border. When you have the drug cartels running Amer- ica’s Southern border from Mexico, it is a na- tional crisis. It’s a scandal that was completely created by President Biden’s actions. He can re- verse it, by the way.
We’re calling on [him] to come down and see this for himself. Don’t farm it out to [Vice President] Kamala Harris, who won’t come. . . . He needs to reverse the policy. He created this. He can end it. . . .
The root cause is getting rid of the “Remain in Mexico” policy, sending out the alarm bells that you can come here, we’re going to let you into America; and maybe years from now, you might get a hearing. In the meantime, you have free rein over the country.
Scalise also noted that some unaccompanied children, teens and apparent family units, some of whom have reportedly contracted Covid, are being flown aboard large transport planes from Texas and other border states to locations deeper within the U.S. A local clergyman who spoke discreetly to AFP understands that various Rio Grande Valley-area hotels are among the facilities being inundated with presumably Covid-infected illegal aliens via a lodging contract between federal border authorities and a San Antonio- based, self- described “Judeo-Christian charity” named Endeavors, that has special “migrant” assistance pro- grams listed on its website.
Wristbands discarded by some of those crossing into the U.S. have been found near the border, according to Epoch Times. The wristbands are evidently color-coded to indicate which smuggling ring is in charge of which individuals or groups. They also allegedly carry tracking numbers connecting the names, phone numbers, and family in- formation to a suspected cartel database, in case the traffickers don’t get their timely payments.
“This a new form of debt bondage,” the Times concluded.
