MCALLEN, Texas – Republican Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush is preparing to visit this border city for a fundraising event and to talk with local officials about border security.
Bush’s campaign headquarters confirmed to Breitbart Texas that the presidential candidate will be visiting the area next week.
The former Florida Governor is expected to arrive on Monday for a fundraising luncheon at an undisclosed location. Following that, he will have a meeting with local officials to talk about commerce, border security and other issues particular to the area. From there Bush will head over to a local restaurant for a second meeting where he will meet with local news outlets.
It remains unclear if, during his meeting with officials, Bush will hear the pro-economic version pushed by many in the area which leaves out border security, or if he will hear about the troubling security issues in the area.
As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, last year the border city of McAllen made worldwide headlines after a shift in human smuggling routes sent hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to this area quickly overwhelming the housing capabilities of the federal government.
While U.S. Border Patrol officials claim that the numbers are lower this year in comparison with last, the numbers continue to be high. Agents with the National Border Patrol Council have warned that the rising numbers could be the start of a new wave of mass immigration.
In addition to the immigration problem, in the multiple border cities just across the Rio Grande River, Mexican cartels continue to run wild in Mexico taking part in raging gun battles that have placed top congressional leaders on alert. As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, this summer Congressmen Filemon Vela and Jason Chaffetz called out Secretary of State John Kerry over the lack of security conditions in the various U.S. Consulates in Mexico. In the strongly worded letter, the two congressmen pointed out the complete impunity with which Mexican cartels continue to operate in the region.
Bush is the third candidate to visit the U.S. Mexico border in a trend that as reported by Breitbart Texas was started by fellow candidates, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who visited this same area but received a security briefing and border tour with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and businessman Donald Trump who just recently traveled to Laredo.
While Trump was initially invited by the National Border Patrol Council to get a firsthand look at the lack of border security in Laredo; after political pressure, the union was forced to pull out of the event. The City of Laredo took over the event but rather than show him the open unsecured borders in that area they took him to the heavily fortified international commercial bridge before sending him off to a small meeting and back to the airport, Breitbart Texas reported.
A third candidate to visit the border was Dr. Ben Carson who this week toured the Arizona/Mexico border and granted Breitbart News exclusive access to his trip.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is also no stranger to the border, having served as the governor of the nation’s largest border state for fourteen years. In the last year of his fourth term, Perry mobilized the Texas National Guard and sent additional law enforcement resources to a small portion of the Texas/Mexico border known as the Rio Grande Sector. This border security project was called Operation Strong Safety and is now being expanded by Governor Greg Abbott to include the entire Texas border with Mexico.
Former Governor Jeb Bush is the son of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and the brother of former Texas Governor and U.S. President George W. Bush.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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