LA JOYA, Texas — Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (R) walked past the border wall material that has been up in the air since President Joe Biden ordered construction to halt in 2021 and noted how upset Americans would be if they understood how much taxpayers’ money was wasted.
Moreno, a successful businessman in the world of car dealerships and blockchain, traveled to the Rio Grande Valley on Monday to see how the ongoing border crisis is affecting the region and highlight how the problem extends to places like Ohio. The Rio Grande Valley sector is one of the hardest-hit areas along the U.S.-Mexico border in terms of the number of people crossing the border illegally, leading to continued overload for Border Patrol agents.
“Thanks to Joe Biden, every state, every city, every county is now a border state. Because people, as you know, who cross the border, transporting drugs or trafficking people, do not stay here. They cause a lot of havoc here, but they end up in places like Ohio,” Moreno said in an interview with Townhall.
Moreno pointed out that Ohio has seen a very high number of fentanyl overdose deaths in recent years, with most of the drugs entering through the southern border at ports of entry and at the open border created by the crisis. WKEF reported In 2020, there were 297 overdose deaths in Montgomery County, which includes Dayton, and at least 328 overdose deaths in behind schedule 2021.
Moreno didn’t hesitate to jab at his opponents for not visiting the southern border, and he wasn’t referring to Democrats.
“My opponents weren’t even at the border. By the way, I’m not talking about my Democratic opponents, I’m talking about these Republicans. They didn’t even bother to come here and understand the situation.”
Drawing on his own experience of coming to the United States legally as a child from Colombia, Moreno said this is one of the reasons he is best suited to address not only the border crisis but also the overall issue of immigration. And it is thanks to legal immigration to the United States that he understands how illegal immigration harms Americans and migrants themselves.
“I can talk about this issue differently. I can talk about what the Democrats are doing is the least compassionate thing they could do. “They are creating a program like ‘The Hunger Games’ in which people leave their homes, leave their families, enrich the drug cartels and go through this incredible pain and misery to be political pawns for them,” he added.
Moreno called for additional military personnel to support seal the southern border, as well as a return to policies implemented under former President Donald Trump, such as full implementation of Migrant Protection Protocols, resuming construction of the border wall, and to send a clear message The only way to come to the United States States is the legal way.
“As a taxpayer, the fact that they are sitting here is disgusting to me, we paid for it,” Moreno said, referring to the material used to build the walls next to him.
“My biggest takeaway is that if Americans actually knew if they could come here and see that you were paying for this… you paid to put this up and it’s just sitting here… When you see what they’re putting into what we’re doing our Border Patrol agents, there would be absolute anarchy on our streets,” Moreno said.
Moreno later explained that he had invited members of the Ohio press to accompany him on his border visit, but no one took him up on his offer.
