US border forces can’t control the “tsunami” of illegal migrants making their way into the country, Chief Chris Clem believes.
The ex-Border Patrol Chief argued on GBN America that Joe Biden is “putting lives at risk” by failing to address the issue sufficiently.
The issue of the southern US border is one of the most polarising in the country and could prove defining at this year’s presidential election.
During Biden’s tenure, more than 6.3 million migrants have been detained crossing into the US illegally - a higher number than under previous presidencies.
Chris Clem says Biden is 'putting lives at stake'
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“The problem we have when you have all these trafficking situations is the volume of people coming into the US illegally”, Clem said.
“The tsunami of people of people it requires Border Patrol agents to arrest and process.
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Chris Clem joined Jacob Rees-Mogg on GBN America
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Migrants crossing the US borderREUTERS“We don’t often get the opportunity to do the questioning or look at something maybe a third or second time that we would normally do if the flow of people was smaller.”
Clem went on to argue that people flooding through the border are risking their lives as they “fall into the hands of human smugglers”.
“People don’t realise they’re victims of trafficking until it’s too late”, he said.
“That in itself is a problem and that’s why you’re seeing people involved in some kind of trafficking or extortion.
“This is, in part, some of the payouts that these migrants have to make to get to the United States.
“When you don’t secure the border, when you make it about rhetoric and political points, you’re actually putting people’s lives at stake because they fall into the hands of human smugglers and traffickers.”
Experts say the blame for the country’s border woes cannot be laid solely at the feet of Biden, with some factors pre-dating his time in office.
The issue has been raging in the US legislature with Republicans in the House of Representatives blocking bipartisan border reforms.
Democrats have argued Trump is behind the stifling of the plans in a bid to deny them a win on the matter before the election.
The Republican candidate has promised to “take care” of the issue while carrying out mass deportations.