Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar acknowledged on "Fox News Sunday" with Shannon Bream that the Biden administration's border is not secure.
Cuellar, whose district is on the U.S.-Mexico border, offered an honest take on the current state of the border crisis by recognizing that millions of migrants have entered the country since Biden took office.
Cuellar responded to Vice President Kamala Harris' comments last month on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours, and our administration," said Harris in September.
"First of all, no, the border is not secure," Cuellar told Bream. "When you have 1.7 million individuals last year, and then another 2.7, that's over 4.5 million individuals encountered at the border. Plus, if you add the getaways, that's going to be over 5 million individuals in just two years. No, the border is not secured, and we've got to make sure that we have repercussions there."
Cuellar, who described himself as a "conservative Democrat," explained that he warned the Biden administration about the problems facing the border towns and the lack of repercussions in December 2020.
"If you don't return people, then this is what you're going to have," Cuellar stated.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security reported 227,547 land border encounters in September. Fiscal year 2022 had the most migrant encounters in history at 2,378,944, a 37% increase from the previous fiscal year.
Cuellar noted that he supports the Biden administration's new agreement with Mexico to send back illegal Venezuelan immigrants. In the fiscal year 2022, there were reportedly over 187,000 Venezuelan migrant encounters.
"I saw the numbers from the Venezuelans that have dropped out," said Cuellar. "I actually want them to do that to every country. If we do that to every country, the numbers will go down. We will be able to control our borders. And that's important to us that live along the border."
Cuellar is up for reelection in Texas' 28th Congressional District against Republican candidate Cassy Garcia.
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