Mitch McConnell: Southern Border Crisis a ‘Textbook Failure of Presidential Leadership’

The migrant crisis on the southern border is a “textbook failure of presidential leadership,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declared on Wednesday, lamenting the “nightmarish conditions” people have been lured into by “Democrats’ misleading messages and failed policies.”

“America is watching a terrible sight unfold on our southern border,” the Kentucky Republican said.

“A textbook failure of presidential leadership. Our citizens deserve better and so do the vulnerable people who have been lured into nightmarish conditions by Democrats’ misleading messages and failed policies,” he added:

McConnell’s remarks coincide with reports of Haitian migrants being released into the U.S. interior. The number could be well into the thousands. This flies in the face of remarks made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday. During a press conference in Del Rio, Texas, the official warned that illegal immigrants would be “returned.”

“If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned, your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family’s life,” he warned.

However, that does not appear to be the case.

As Breitbart News reported:

“We in DHS are securing additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of removal flights to Haiti and other destinations in the Western Hemisphere,” he stated.

Despite these bold promises of removal, it appears the number of Haitians being removed is in the hundreds while those being released are in the thousands.

Photos and videos show the sad state of affairs as illegal migrants craft makeshift camps under the Del Rio International Bridge, which Breitbart Texas toured:

Breitbart Texas toured the camp Friday afternoon. A steady stream of mostly Haitian migrants crossed back and forth across the Rio Grande with supplies, cardboard, bedding materials, and food. Despite the constant transfer of migrants from the camp to local detention facilities as space opens, the Border Patrol has not been able to reduce the population of the camp.

As the Border Patrol, Army National Guard Troops, and other law enforcement officials stood watch, migrants lined up to receive meals and drinking water by the hundreds. Many moved freely about the brush country near the international bridge in search of materials to construct shelters.

Several children in the camp sorted through piles of donated clothing as others ran between the tents and cane structures. The camp is populated mostly by family units with children but there are also several thousand single adult males and females.

Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was “immediately implementing a new comprehensive strategy” to address the crisis at the border in Del Rio. The plan involves a surge of agents and officers, further coordination between agencies, and additional transportation, as well as coordination between “source and transit countries” and other local and state partners.