Kevin McCarthy and Representative John Katko tore into Biden’s southern border policies, claiming his actions have allowed for increased crime in American cities and caused the spike in fentanyl overdose deaths.
‘We’ll do everything in our power to make sure Title 42 is not lifted,’ the House Republican Minority Leader told DailyMail.com Thursday during an event honoring fallen law enforcement officers.
‘We do not have a secure border,’McCarthy added, ‘and because of that, every single city is a border city.’
Kato, who is the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, said that the day President Biden took office he destroyed national security in the U.S.
‘The president can say anything he wants, but on January 20, with the stroke of the pen, he literally destroyed security at the southern border,’ Katko told DailyMail.com during a press conference Thursday.
McCarhty and Katko of New York joined police officers on a bicycle and motorcycle ride through Washington, D.C. on an overcast Thursday morning for the second annual Back the Blue Tour.
The ride ended at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in northwest D.C. to mingle, hold a press conference and drink some Black Rifle Coffee Company coffee, which has a brew called ‘Thin Blue Line’ in honor of law enforcement officers.
McCarthy said that Republicans are prepared to back up police if they regain a majority in Congress, including more funding.
‘You had a number of Democrats who wanted to… actually defund the police,’ the leader said. ‘You’ve got a high number of retiring based upon some of that.’
‘Crime has become one of the No. 1 issues in this country where people feel unsafe to go outside – and a lot of that is driven by the policies that we see from the other side of the aisle. We will reverse them,’ he assured.
McCarthy detailed that ‘the American Security Task Force that will soon be rolling out our law enforcement agenda.
‘It’s not a defund of police, but a funding of the police,’ he added.
While violent crime rates in U.S. cities have spiked during Biden’s time in office, the topic has also sparked intense debate regarding the southern border as crime has increased among cartels and drug and human smugglers.
‘On crime, it’s hard not to also think about the border – southern border – and I’m wondering with Title 42 still set to end of this month, what are Republicans doing to try to either prepare for that influx or maybe stop title 42 from actually ending?’ DailyMail.com asked McCarthy on Thursday.
‘Fire and foremost, title 42 should not be lifted,’ McCarhty insisted. ‘For everyone who doesn’t understand title 42 simply says if you’re coming across the border illegally, you can be removed back to your country. I think that’s an appropriate thing to do.’
‘Our border’s not secure and what has happened to them? More than a million people have come across this border,’ he added.
Title 42 is set to end in less than two weeks on May 23, which internal predictions say will lead to a tripling of migration at the southern border amid already record high numbers of encounters.
cCarthy slammed Biden’s policies as allowing for more fentanyl to cross the border undetected and said more people than ever on the Terrorist Watchlist are getting through.
Katko said that while he has been working on border issues since 1994, ‘I’ve never seen the border like it is now’
‘Every single law enforcement, every single community in this country is being affected by it,’ the congressman added. ‘We’re burying our children at rapid rates, like Kevin noted, because of the fentanyl that’s coming across. The cartels have never been more powerful.’
‘The answer is quite simple,’ Katko proposed. ‘Keep 42 in place.’
Katko said that if Republicans regain a majority in November they will make it a priority to finish building the border wall and implement electronic supplemental
ed the spike in fentanyl overdose deaths.