OPINION

Record Illegal Immigration Proves We Have No Idea Who Is Coming Into our Country

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Joe Biden’s border crisis is out of control, and the latest numbers from Border Patrol show that there’s no signs of things getting any better. In September alone, there were over 210,000 encounters – the highest on record for the month of September since 2000. Even more staggering is the fact that border patrol apprehensions have surpassed 2 million for the fiscal year. Our nation is in crisis, we have a president who refuses to secure our southern border, and American families are left to pay the price.

As a Mexican-born immigrant who legally came to the United States at six years old, lives in the Rio Grande Valley, and is the wife of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent – this is personal. Drugs and traffickers are flooding over our southern border. Border Patrol agents are being assaulted. Women and children are dying. The Mexican cartels are making billions of dollars in profit. We’re seeing lawlessness and violence at the southern border right now, and Joe Biden, my opponent Vincente Gonzalez, and radical Democrats are to blame. 

I see the chaos at our border every day and live it every night when my husband comes home from work. This massive wave of illegal immigration flooding our country has left our country in a state of emergency, and unless we get serious about electing leaders who are committed to solving this crisis – everything we have worked for will go to ruin.

What’s worse – in the midst of the terrorist attacks in Israel where innocent men, women, elderly, and children have been brutally murdered at the hands of Hamas terrorists – federal officials are warning that many of these dangerous individuals could be attempting to make their way across our southern border. These foreign fighters and extremist terrorists are solely motivated by ideology and wish nothing else but to cause death and destruction to America. Americans and the people of South Texas deserve leaders who are serious about putting partisan politics aside and doing what is right in order to protect their lives and keep their families safe. 

When I ran for Congress in 2022 and became the first Mexican-born woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives, I did so because I knew what the families of South Texas deserved. They deserve someone who will fight to secure our border, crack down on crime, lower costs on gas and groceries, and create more opportunities for our children. 

And it’s why I am running for Congress again. My opponent, Vincente Gonzalez, has abandoned South Texas families – voting with Joe Biden and Democrats time and time again to create this disaster at our border. This isn’t right, this isn’t American, and we must stand up and get serious about defending our border and American values. On day one, we’re going to stop the insanity. We’re going to secure our border, end this mass illegal immigration, and put a fix to this situation once and for all. I love this country and am going to do all I can to help save it. 

Mayra Flores was the first Mexican-born female elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a current candidate to retake her seat in TX-34.