Dem. Congresswoman Calls to Swap Border Patrol with ‘Civilianized’ Personnel

Texas Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar called to end the handling of illegal border crossers by law enforcement and instead opt for “civilianized” personnel, claiming Thursday it would “restore” the dignity of all involved and the Biden administration “has been very open” to her proposals.

During an interview aired on MSNBC’s “Reports” with José Díaz-Balart, the Democrat from El Paso discusses the propositions she raised with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

“I have proposed and have been working with Secretary Mayorkas on reforming the way we process asylum seekers at the southern border,” she said.

According to Escobar, that reform includes a plan to “civilianize” the current personnel dealing with the many migrants illegally entering the country daily.

“We should not be utilizing law enforcement to essentially manage or oversee or process vulnerable populations,” she said. “We should civilianize that personnel and get law enforcement back to what they were trained to do.”

“Thankfully,” she noted, “the secretary has been very open to my ideas.”

Calling it a potential “watershed moment,” Escobar claimed her plan would restore dignity to both migrants as well as federal personnel.

“I think it will really be a watershed moment for us on the border if we’re able to successfully make this work,” she said, “so that we restore dignity to the process, restore dignity to migrants, and to federal personnel and maintain our security at the same time.”

In response, many took to social media and criticized the Democratic congresswoman.

“The prosecution rests our case,” wrote Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).

“What does she have in mind? Social workers?” asked Deputy Director of Rapid Response at Republican National Committee (RNC) Jake Schneider.  “Give me a break. Democrats want OPEN BORDERS!”

“They are hellbent on turning southern states blue,” wrote one Twitter user.

“She is a threat to national & economic security,” wrote another.

“So instead of sending border patrol to our border, the left wants to send social workers, most likely to sign them up for all the benefits they can be signed up for,” another Twitter user wrote.

“Democrats are dangerously lawless, pure and simple,” another user wrote.

“Stop defending the invasion of our country and my state!” wrote yet another.

“First replacing cops. Now border control,” another Twitter user wrote. “Do we have an over population of social workers?”

Last year, Escobar argued people concerned about inflation should want the productivity boost that will come from provisions for work permits for illegal immigrants in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill.

Her latest remarks come as the Biden administration plans to end the Title 42 policy that helps border officials regulate the inflow of unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, in a move expected to bring an even larger wave of migrants to the U.S. southern border.

America currently faces record-high levels of illegal immigration, with more than 209,000 migrants apprehended after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. in March, the highest number of migrant apprehensions for one month since March 2000 — the last year of the Clinton administration. 

It also breaks the Biden-era record of 200,658 set in July 2021.

Last year, President Biden set new records for illegal immigration by enticing more than two million border crossers and illegal aliens to take the often deadly journey through Mexico to the nation’s southern border in the hopes of being released into the U.S.

Earlier this year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was reported to have admitted in private that illegal immigration in President Biden’s first year in office is “worse now than … ever” in American history.

Last week, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) accused President Biden of significantly damaging national security by deliberately creating a border crisis to expand the Democrat voter bloc, as he called for an investigation into the president over his actions.

On Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) warned the country was heading toward the “biggest migration crisis in U.S. history” as a result of Biden administration policies.