Border Democrat warns Biden of immigrant fallout

A Democratic lawmaker representing a border district has warned the Biden administration not to relax unauthorized immigrants too much, citing their impact on his constituents, local hospitals and their potential for the coronavirus to spread.

Why is this important: Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told Axios he supports President Biden. But the moderate said he sees the downsides of efforts to appease pro-immigrant groups, an effort that threatens to blow up the administration.

• “You can’t say, ‘Yeah, yeah, let everybody in’ – because then were affected over there at the border, ”Cuellar told Axios on Saturday.

The big picture: Border crossings are increasing. Hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley region are already occupied. Border Patrol has a lower capacity than normal.

• Cuellar hopes the administration will continue to use a Trump-era public health order to quickly deport migrant adults and families, at least during the pandemic. Activists called on Biden to end the use of the policy, called Title 42.
• He said the smugglers would likely use the Trump administration’s change in immigration tactics to the Biden administration to convince migrants to come to the United States. “The bad guys know how to market this,” Cuellar said.
• Some immigrants are allowed to enter the country without first passing a COVID-19 test – a concern for some non-governmental organizations dealing with them, Cuellar said.
• He complained of a contradiction between the release of some unauthorized immigrants in border communities while keeping legal and cross-border travel closed. Many local businesses depend on Mexican buyers for 50 to 75 percent of their sales, he said.

Cuellar is not the first Democrat in Texas to warn the Biden administration of the impact of growing numbers of immigrants on border communities.

• Faced with the weather emergency in Texas, the mayor of Del Rio, Bruno Lozano, targeted the president in a video this month: “I beg you and ask you to end all measures concerning the release of the immigrants. “