Senator Collins: I Toured the Border. Cartel Members Taunted Us.

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins toured the U.S.-Mexico border overnight with a delegation led by Texas Republican Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. The trip continues through Mission, Texas today with a boat tour, but they've already seen the crisis first hand. 

Mexican cartels control who crosses the border. A young mother from Guatemala, sitting on an aluminum blanket with her 1-year-old, told me she paid smugglers $6,000.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021

Border Patrol is overwhelmed, overworked, & discouraged by new policies. Agents took us through a dangerous path to the Rio Grande where we could hear the Cartel members taunting us across the river. Human trafficking, child abuse, & drug smuggling are rampant. This is a crisis.

— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) March 26, 2021

I'm at the #Border seeing this humanitarian and health crisis unfolding.

When we had the Remain in Mexico policy we 45 year record lows for border apprehensions.

Now, due to President Biden's policies, the surge of illegal migrants at the border is the worst in 20 years. pic.twitter.com/hSXUn7D8id

— Senator Mike Braun (@SenatorBraun) March 26, 2021

Live footage from the banks of the Rio Grande.#BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/aO4EyANrRQ

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021

MISSION, TX: Ahead of the GOP’s border tour led by Senators @JohnCornyn & @SenTedCruz, TX DPS Tactical Marine Unit preps the vessels used to patrol the Rio Grande. They’ll escort 19 Senators later today.

These boats are used to intercept/deter cartel activity/human trafficking. pic.twitter.com/ySAyQSpddW

— Morgan Chesky (@BreakingChesky) March 26, 2021

At $6000 per person with 3000 crossings in a 24 hour period, cartels are making approximately 18 million a day. 

Townhall's Julio Rosas has been reporting from the border for weeks and has watched human smugglers bring illegal immigrants across the Rio Grande in rafts. 

Tonight, Townhall's @Julio_Rosas11 joined @TuckerCarlson from McAllen, TX, to report on the ongoing border crisis:

"In the span of about 35 minutes by the river, we encountered approx. 69 illegal immigrants...in fact, we saw the smugglers using the rafts to bring people across." pic.twitter.com/aumJ6Slk7l

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 26, 2021