In a recent interview with Townhall, former GOP Rep. Mayra Flores, who is running to reclaim her seat in Texas’ 34th congressional district in 2024, shared how her Mexico-bordering district has been impacted by the Biden administration’s mishandling of the border crisis.
“The Mexican cartel is in full control of the southern border,” Flores told Townhall. “This is a situation that we [people who live near the border] deal with on a daily basis.”
“It’s the best time for terrorists to come into the country, because we don’t have border security,” she explained. “We have a federal government that refuses to enforce the law.”
“This is the deadliest administration, where the most migrants have lost their lives,” she added.
“Nothing will stop this crisis…until the Biden administration starts enforcing the law and starts deportations. There’s very little deportations happening. When you’re not sending people back, people will continue to come,” she said.
Last month, a story published by The Washington Post claimed that the number of families coming across the border is going up. This, Flores explained, may be inaccurate, as many children are trafficked across the border with adults who claim they are related.
“With his [Biden] policies, he’s encouraging families to come here to the United States illegally. Nothing guarantees us that they’re actually families. They claim that they’re related to the child, but there’s no DNA testing to prove that. Many of them do not have any documentation that they’re actually related to the child,” Flores explained. “They could be child traffickers.”
“Under this administration, they’ve lost track of 87,000 children,” she continued. “This is a harsh reality. That is why it's so important for us to secure the border, put in place policies that protect these children and put child traffickers in jail for the rest of their lives.”
“We need to make sure these children are related to these people…when they’re in our custody, I feel we’re responsible for these children in making sure that they’re safe. And if being safe is being sent back to their family members, so be it. I’d rather these children be sent back to their families before these children end up in the hands of a child sex trafficker…That’s what the American people need to realize…that the border situation is getting out of hand and is hurting children, is hurting migrants. Evil exists,” she concluded.
Looking ahead to 2024, Flores said that the border, as well as the economy and education, are top issues for her.
“I’m going to continue talking about the kitchen table issues,” Flores said, adding that the economy is “something that is hurting all [Americans.]”
“This economy doesn’t discriminate. Doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. We’re all struggling….but also, securing the border. We have to secure the border to keep children safe. I want to stop the child sex trafficking in this country,” she explained. “That is one of my big priorities, is to stop this madness.”
Last year, Townhall interviewed Flores ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Flores’ win in her special election months prior sent shockwaves across the country, as she won in a historically Democratic district.
“I really believe that the Democratic Party just took us for granted here in South Texas. They’ve done nothing for us for decades. They think that because they have a ‘D’ after their last name that they’re always going to get reelected,” Flores told Townhall in the previous interview.
“The Democratic Party completely just abandoned the Hispanic community’s values and the Hispanic community’s needs,” she added, explaining that her congressional district is 90 percent Hispanic and many have family who live across the border.
“This open border policy under the Biden administration is hurting not just Americans, it’s hurting immigrants as well. These immigrants go through sexual abuse, have to pay thousands of dollars to criminal organizations to come here to the United States,” she explained. “If we care about immigrants, we should be focusing on legal immigration and improving the legal process so they’re able to come here to the United States, but it doesn’t take 10 years, 15 years to come here.”