Title 42 to expire, cartels may seek new route for border crossings – Mayra Flores warns.

Former Republican Lawmaker Slams Biden Administration for Ignoring Border Crisis

Cartels Will Find Another Route, Says Mayra Flores

Mayra Flores, a former Republican border lawmaker and wife of a United States Border Patrol agent, has criticized the Biden administration for ignoring the border crisis. She warns that the end of Title 42 won’t stop cartels from facilitating illegal immigration. “They’re going to find another route. The cartels have been paid already, right? So they have an ‘obligation’ [and] they’re going to find another route and cross them into the United States illegally. It’s going to happen,” Flores told the Washington Examiner.

For years, smugglers and cartels south of the border have sought to recruit United States residents as couriers to bring in large amounts of migrants, sometimes resulting in catastrophic demises. Flores, who is now a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, lamented that the end of Title 42 on Thursday coincided with record numbers of more than 10,000 migrants crossing the United States-Mexico border each day this week.

Secure the Border Act

Flores also lashed out at Democratic House lawmakers, including her former opponent Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), who unseated her in the 2022 election, for voting against the recently passed Secure the Border Act. That bill would resume construction of the border wall and limit asylum eligibility, though it’s unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“He said he wrote a letter to extend Title 42, wanting border security, but also voted against border security,” Flores said, adding that border Democrats such as Gonzalez and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) “are not moderates.”

Biden Administration Wants to Avoid Border Fortification

Flores also accused the Biden administration and Democrats of wanting to avoid border fortification to build support from the Hispanic community for the upcoming 2024 election. “They don’t want to fix this issue because they want to continue using the immigration issue every election cycle to get the support from the Hispanic community. Then, once they get the support from the Hispanic community, they toss them aside,” Flores said.

Operation Lone Star

Flores commended Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star program that deployed 10,000 Texas National Guard soldiers to areas across the southern border. “The reason why we’re seeing a [lull] after Title 42 ended, of people coming in, is because of our governor, he put a stop to it,” Flores said.

Flores declined to say whether she would make another attempt to gain back her seat after losing to Gonzalez but said she would “always be a voice for South Texas” and stand for the Border Patrol agents handling the immigration crisis.