Former acting Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Mark Morgan said the most effective approach to achieving a secure border is to reinstate the border policies that were implemented during the previous administration of President Donald Trump during an interview with Newsmax on Sunday.
“I’m not trying to be flippant here,” Morgan, now a visiting fellow for the Heritage Foundation, told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “We reach up on the shelf and look for the book that says ‘Trump Era Border Security Plan.’ We pull it off, dust it off and implement it.”
That includes reinstituting the safe third country agreements with all three Northern Triangle countries as well as the Remain in Mexico program, he said, adding, “we remove criminal aliens from our streets and we rebuild the wall.”
“It’s all part of a multilateral strategy of infrastructure, technology, and personnel on top of policies. We do that and you have a secure border,” he noted.
During a visit to El Paso last week, Mark Morgan emphasized the reality of the humanitarian risks, as well as the threats to national security and public safety. He asserted that the ongoing crisis at the border has been largely caused by the open border policies implemented by the Biden administration.
NEW: Remarkable video from our Fox drone team shows an enormous line of hundreds of migrants who just crossed illegally into Brownsville, TX this evening. A large majority of them are single adults. The RGV continues to see a massive surge of illegal crossings ahead of T42 drop. pic.twitter.com/xHDV8sc8PD
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 8, 2023
“It’s unconscionable what’s going on right now,” said Morgan. “My question is, how many more Americans have to die? How many more migrants have to die before we demand that enough is enough?”
Meanwhile, Texas authorities are redirecting migrants to the nearest border point of entry, which he says the Biden administration should be doing.
“It is extremely successful because it acted as a deterrent wherever they were applying that strategy,” he said. “I really applaud the efforts of Governor [Greg] Abbott and all the incredible men and women of the Texas DPS and National Guard.”
Morgan also accused Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of providing false information regarding the situation at the border. Specifically, Morgan criticized Mayorkas for his recent remarks stating that the United States lacks control over the movement of people until they reach the southern border.
“What we did under the Trump administration, love him or hate him, but the fact is, we had the most secure border of our lifetime,” said Morgan. “We instituted a strategy of deterrence, consequence, and integrity. [Mayorkas is] a liar. You can prevent the flow if you put in policies that deter them from coming, and if they do, then you apply consequences that will then act as a further deterrent. We did that. It was successful.”
