A top Republican sparked a diplomatic spat with Mexico after he said its citizens would be ‘eating cat food’ without the United States.
Senator John Kennedy was labeled a ‘racist’ by the Mexican government after his explosive comments on how to end drug trafficking.
The Louisiana lawmaker said the Biden administration could use troops to intervene and dismantle the cartels because Mexico is so dependent on US trade.
“Without the people of the United States, Mexico, figuratively speaking, would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent,” Kennedy said.
‘Our economy is 23 trillion dollars. Mexico’s economy is 1.3 billion. Ours is eighteen times bigger. We buy $400 billion every year from Mexico,’ she added.
The 71-year-old woman was questioning the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Anne Milgram, about her efforts to stop deadly doses of fentayl entering the US on Wednesday.
So why don’t you and the president get on the phone and call the president (Andrés Manuel) López Obrador and make him a deal that he cannot refuse to allow our military and our law enforcement officials into Mexico and work with her to stop the cartels,’ she asked Milgram
Kennedy’s comments before a Senate committee on federal spending sparked outrage in Mexico, with both the country’s president and foreign minister lashing out.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado urged US Hispanics to reject Republicans like Kennedy, whom he said have “very offensive” views.
Mexico’s top diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard, said Republicans were deliberately stirring up hatred ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
“What is behind these ideas and who promotes them,” said Ebrard. ‘Racism against Mexicans, and in general all Spanish-speakers.’
Meanwhile, the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, told Mexicans in the US to vote for members of Congress with such views.
“Tell our compatriots, Hispanics, our American friends, not to vote for people with this mentality that is so arrogant, so offensive and so stupid,” he said.
The dispute erupted when Republicans in the House of Representatives approved a bill that would revive Donald Trump’s now-removed border wall.
The bill, narrowly passed by lawmakers on Thursday, also calls for the hiring of 22,000 new border patrol agents to stop immigrants sneaking into the US.
The so-called Border Security Act, which makes it more difficult for them to apply for asylum, has little chance of becoming law.
Democrats control the Senate, the upper house of Congress, where he will almost certainly be rejected.
The White House also warned that Joe Biden will exercise his presidential veto to kill the bill he manages to pass.
It’s a response to the expiration of a Covid-era emergency law, known as Title 42, that made it easy to expel asylum seekers without even hearing their case.
Title 42 had been used by former President Donald Trump to expel migrants in the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic for public health reasons.
It expired because Joe Biden had decided to end emergency Covid-19 legislation despite Republican calls to renew those powers.
Border union officials say detention centers are already overcrowded, adding to the pressure on the Biden administration.
Although an agreement has already been reached with Mexico to recover Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who see their asylum applications rejected.
Border shelters in El Paso, Texas, are already being overwhelmed by the sheer number of immigrants pouring in, with some forced to sleep on the streets.
The border city is one of many that have declared a state of emergency.
The migrants have been waiting at the southwest border waiting for Title 42 to expire before sneaking into the US.
Border patrol guards are said to suffer from low staffing levels and low morale due to the large number of people crossing
Last week, a major government accountability watchdog released a shocking report that painted a bleak picture of how border officials manage.
The Office of the Inspector General said border forces are struggling to handle the increased number of migrants due to low staffing levels.
The researchers warned that immigration and border officials may end up resigning or taking early retirement unless working conditions improve rapidly.
There are some 24,000 law enforcement officers stationed along the 1,951-mile southwest border with Mexico.
An additional 1,500 troops are being sent to support US Customs and Border Protection, and the National Guard’s 2,500 troops are already there.
At least 2.3 million migrants tried to cross into the United States illegally through the border with Mexico last year, according to the US Customs and Border Protection.
That’s more than 1.7 million people in 2021 and just over 450,000 the year before, when much of the world was in lockdown during the pandemic.