As I concluded my recent radio tour across our Republic on the continuing chaos on our Republic's southern border, and subsequently begin prepping for my next tour on June 15th, in Eugene, Oregon, host Robb Holloway and I focused on the less ventured route of criticism on this through discussing the humanitarian implications of the end of Title 42.
We discussed how, setting aside the political and electoral implications, this decision to let the rule expire not only further highlights the inept leadership from the Biden administration on the southern border, but how it also takes away the humanitarian angle from their argument for their approach to the border, as this worsens the already horrific trend of smuggling, abuse, and treatment of illegal immigrants, as well as further encourages criminals, drug lords, and gangsters to be unimpeded amongst the chaos.
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The following transcript from this interview is presented in its entirety with minor edits:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
border, asylum, Texas, El Paso, Biden, problem immigration, humanitarian.
SPEAKERS
Robb Holloway and John Pudner.
Robb Holloway 00:00
John Pudner. He's the President of Take Back Our Republic Action, who was also an aide to George W. Bush back in 2000, and he is also the only person in US history to run a campaign defeating a Majority Leader in a primary. John, thanks for being with us this morning.
John Pudner 00:18
Thanks for having me.
Robb Holloway 00:20
Our pleasure. I want to just define a couple of things here. You know, you have people who are trying to get into the country, and then you have people that are trying to get under the country under asylum. Explain the difference and what the stipulations are for somebody to be even able to receive asylum?
John Pudner 00:46
Well, the problem is, is that there are different criteria on which situation you're trying to get away from. What's amazing is, down at the border, they have lines of files on individuals and hallways of those. They've had this for years. They just can't get through people, even with their best efforts, to determine who legitimately has grounds to be here, such as escaping a communist government in Cuba, for example. So, that's the problem. There's this backlog of people just being here for a few years, and finally, under Title 42, as you mentioned, 2.8 million could just be turned away and kept out of the country, not stayed here waiting to be processed.
Robb Holloway 01:41
Okay, but there is a difference between people that are trying to get into the country, whether we're talking about they want to come here to be seasonal workers, or they just want to come here because they want to become eventually US citizens, and somebody that is seeking actual asylum because asylum requires certain benchmarks that have to be able to be proven. How many of these people that are at the border are actually just wanting to come into the country and how many are actually what would consider to be real asylum seekers?
John Pudner 02:23
Oh, very, very low percentage. For example, there are Cubans who make it to Mexico, and then try to come over the border, and the US has worked with the Mexican government to identify people like that. That's, I will say, the bulk, but certainly the biggest plurality of people would fall into that category because they're fleeing communist countries. But, you can also have someone where you're in a war-torn country, so it's a small percentage, and of course, the third unofficial category is criminals who realize, and that's a small percentage, but they just realize there's a bunch of chaos at the border they can capitalize on. I mean, President Biden said it's going to be chaotic for a while. What an invitation to say, "Oh, now's the time to come in. They can't catch us!" You've got the actual criminal element as a third category, I'd say.
Robb Holloway 03:19
Kamla Harris was supposed to be taking care of that situation. What has she done?
John Pudner 03:25
Well, a recent poll from democratic firms showed 32% approve of their handling of immigration and 58% do not, so it's two to one against them on how they're handling it. I would say the public perception of this one is correct. They tried to spin this early on, saying the open border policy is the humanitarian one, and I just don't see how that narrative can hold up when you see just the people that are exploited, as you said, vast majorities, 2.8 million, just hoping for a better life. But, you know, they're paying people wanting to take advantage of any situation, and so I think it's been a humanitarian disaster. It's also been a political disaster. So, I don't think she's going to be campaigning on this one nor is the President.
Robb Holloway 04:17
What are the latest numbers that you're hearing of individuals that are stacked up at the border waiting for the doors to open?
John Pudner 04:24
Well, there currently isn't a count, but I think just knowing that 2.8 million figure you referred gives a preview. Add a million and a half a year to whatever would be coming over. So, you're talking millions, and obviously, you look at the footage from El Paso, or any of these places, they can't handle this influx of people coming up, and this is where you find your height of northeastern liberal hypocrisy when they're outrage that someone that would be flown to Martha's Vineyard. I mean, yeah, you can say that's publicity, but I think it's publicity that makes a real point. Certainly, with all the wealth you have in Martha's Vineyard, you should be able to handle a couple of hundred people if you're asking Texas to handle several million. There's just no infrastructure to take care of people, and that's what's built up resentment. But, it also leaves a lot of immigrants in a terrible spot, because they don't know what they're coming into here, and they're stuck with no life once they get here.
Robb Holloway 05:29
Joining us on the Wake up Call, John Pudner. Where do you put all these people? Where do they go? I mean, you open the doors, they come over the border, there's El Paso, what do they do? Do they just set up tents somewhere? I mean, where do they go?
John Pudner 05:55
Well, this is one thing that really points to the hypocrisy of all this. President Biden recently said that it looks like they're setting up to say that, once you're overflowed, you can release them out into communities, and in essence, law enforcement stops trying. Well, how does that not contradict them complaining when bus loads are sent up from Texas to DC or New York, to where Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of New York, says it's Biden's policy that's destroying New York City? I mean, that's a long way from the border with the percentage of immigrants that New York has to deal with. That's a tiny percentage compared to El Paso. So, looks like this solution the Biden administration has is going to tell law enforcement to release them out into communities and let them be someone else's problem.
Robb Holloway 06:50
So that said, you know what? Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, what kind of authority and what kind of powers does he have? Because the bulk majority of these people are going to be coming into his state.
John Pudner 07:06
As you know, they are busing people into other states, again, to point out the hypocrisy, but the raw numbers you're talking about...I mean, we can sit here for a while trying to do the math on how many buses it would take to move these 2.8 million, assuming they're coming back over the border, so they can move on, but in the end, they're humans who are going to have to be dealt with. They're going to flood Texas localities, for the most part, and there is only a small percentage you can actually move to these liberal states where do-gooders claim they want this immigration. I mean, almost 10 years ago, we cut a commercial on immigration that we used to beat the Majority Leader just talking about this problem. This isn't something new or something no one saw coming - opening the border wider, just that it's not only a terrible political decision, but more importantly, a humanitarian decision.
Robb Holloway 07:58
All right, John, we appreciate you joining us on the Wake Up Call.