Global Courant
Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the southern border in Yuma, Arizona this week, where he described the horrific conditions migrants face and said the crisis is “unsustainable.”
“This is not a good thing for our country, it is not a good thing for these people and it is unsustainable,” Kennedy said.
The Democrat said in a cell phone video with a section of border wall behind him that he saw migrants from Peru, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China and elsewhere. He said border guards in the sector have encountered migrants from 117 countries in recent years.
“They are put on buses and taken to the border patrol station where they are processed. After 4 or 5 days they are released on their own initiative in our country and most of them are never seen or heard from again,” he said.
RFK JR. SAYS HE WILL IMPROVE THE BORDER IF Elected
Robert F Kennedy Jr. speaks at an event where he announced his candidacy for president on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds) (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
He described not only the effect on the US, but also the “heartbreaking” conditions faced by migrants who are drawn to the US border in the belief that they will be released into the US interior.
“This is a humanitarian crisis because of the understanding around the world that we have an open border here,” he said.
The comments mark the latest pronouncements on the border crisis from the environmental lawyer challenging President Biden for the nomination.
ROBERT F KENNEDY JR SLAMS BIDEN BORDER ‘CHAOS’ AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TO SLAUGHTER FIVE IN TEXAS
Last month, he disclosed the illegal immigrant background of a suspect arrested for the murder of five people in Texas.
“It is not intolerance against immigrants to demand an immigration system that keeps criminals out. In fact, letting them in breeds bigotry. As president, I will enforce a secure border, and I will expand the kind of LEGAL immigration that our country made. Great.”
He also urged officials to address US policies that create the conditions that allow many migrants to flee their countries in the first place, citing the war on drugs.
“The War on Drugs is one,” Kennedy wrote. “U.S.-funded dictators, juntas, paramilitaries and death squads. Neoliberal resource extraction. Unpayable debts. It is inhumane and hypocritical to deny immigration while creating the conditions that encourage immigration. As president, I will change this policy. That is the only long-term solution to the border crisis.”
A few days later, he told Fox News Digital that he will “impenetrable the border” if elected president.
“I will make the border impenetrable,” Kennedy said. “We can’t release people, illegal aliens across the border.”
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“But we must also recognize that this is a humanitarian crisis, and we must correct the policies that have caused this mass migration, including decades of US foreign policy that has imposed austerity on those governments, neoliberal policies that have spurred the rise of the military dictatorship of the Junta that has trained and supported death squads in Central American countries,” Kennedy continued.
Houston Keene and Louis Casiano of Fox News contributed to this report.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or at Twitter.
