Homeland Security is warning as many as a million illegals could surge across the border if the Biden administration lifts Title 42, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said on the Todd Starnes Show.
Click here to sign up for Todd’s free newsletter – and avoid Big Tech censorship!
The following is a rush transcript from The Todd Starnes Radio Show. Listen to the program live Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. Click here to listen to the full interview.
TODD STARNES: [00:40:33] Fortunately, Senator Bill Hagerty, the Senator from Tennessee, introduced legislation that would allow the Title 42 Public Health Order to remain in place, and there’s an additional component that the senator is introducing. The Senator here in our Liberty University Studios on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Senator Hagerty, hope you’re doing well today. [00:40:57][23.6]
SENATOR BILL HAGERTY: [00:40:58] I am, Todd. It’s always great to be on with you. Thank you. [00:41:00][2.7]
STARNES: [00:41:01] And I think we should, again, let people know what’s been happening at the border. So much attention focused elsewhere, but my understanding is we’ve got thousands of people that are still coming across that border. [00:41:11][10.4]
HAGERTY: [00:41:13] That is exactly right, and as early as today, the Biden administration may lift what is known as Title 42 that you so aptly mentioned. I think the administration just in the past year has expelled a million illegal immigrants using Title 42, which is based on public health emergency. They’re talking about lifting that as early as today, so I’ve introduced legislation today that not only keeps that intact but expands Title 42 to include what I think is another massive public health issue. And that’s the deaths that were incurring here in Tennessee in counties all across our State and all across this Nation. The deaths that are happening because of drug overdoses, because the massive amounts of illegal drugs that are flowing across that poor border that the Biden administration will not acknowledge. Just last year alone, Todd, we lost 100,000 Americans to drug overdoses. And make no mistake about it, these drugs are coming over from the Chinese Communist Party, the fentanyl and the precursors to fentanyl being shipped from China into Mexico. Then they’re coming across our poor southern border. The Chinese Communist Party is aligned with the cartels in Mexico, and they are waging war on the youth of America. Again, 100,000 deaths last year. Every sheriff, every mayor that I talked with told me that each month in Tennessee is worse than the month prior. And I’m going to lead a group of sheriffs and mayors with me this weekend down to the southern border, so we can not only talk about what they’re encountering here at home, but what we’re seeing at that southern border. [00:42:44][91.3]
STARNES: [00:42:45] Yeah, that’s right. We understand you will be leading that delegation of sheriffs and mayors to the border. What do you hope they glean from that trip this coming weekend? [00:42:57][11.9]
HAGERTY: [00:42:58] Well, I think what they’re going to see is what I’ve already seen, and that is, you know, a tremendous amount of disarray. We’re going to see people trying to do their jobs. We look at our Customs Border Patrol agents down there trying to do their jobs, but they are overwhelmed. They’re under-resourced, and the cartels have figured out how to do this, Todd. They flood the border. I heard this morning 100 people coming across. They’ll flood one area, so they can send up the drugs, and the other people the hardened criminals can come up in another direction to be the “got aways” as they call them. This is a process that the cartels have figured out very well. And again, the Biden administration continues to under resource that border to facilitate all of this. The Biden administration is supposed to have been coming up with a plan to address the massive amount of immigration. They’re talking about, if what I’m hearing is correct, Homeland Security is saying if Title 42 is lifted, they could have as many as another million people coming across our border illegally over the next six weeks. So, they’re stacking up at the border right now, again on the promise that they’re going to be granted access to America, and once they’re here, the Biden administration’s focus is much more on how rapidly they can process people, not on how they can turn the back. So, this is a process that is just broken beyond repair. It needs to be stopped. The wall needs to be secure there, and we need to go back to President Trump’s playbook that was working. Letting them seek asylum here in America has not worked, clearly, it worked much better with the stay in Mexico policies President Trump negotiated very hard and put in place, and we need to go back to that policy. [00:44:29][90.8]
STARNES: [00:44:29] Senator Bill Hagerty on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line – Senator, we also understand you’re going to have a meeting this week with Judge Jackson, President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court. What do you hope to learn out of that? [00:44:44][14.5]
HAGERTY: [00:44:45] Well, I actually had my meeting with her yesterday, Todd. And you know, I had a respectful meeting with Judge Jackson. We talked about her philosophy as a judge, and how she intends to apply the law. I still have more questions that remain. What I want to see is a judge that applies the law as it’s written, not how they might wish it to be. We need to make certain that we have a judge that supports the court as it is as well. She would not commit to me her position on packing the court, again, the groups that are supporting her seem to be very much in that lane of court packing, adding four more justices so they could change the balance again to get a more liberal bias in the court. We need to halt that and stop that at every turn. So, I still have more work to do on her nomination. But as I said, the meeting I had with her yesterday was cordial and respectful, and it began the process. [00:45:42][56.8]
STARNES: [00:45:42] Were you surprised and concerned by her response to the questions about defining a woman? Senator Marsha Blackburn really is catching a lot of national flak from the leftists for asking those questions. [00:45:56][13.8]
HAGERTY: [00:45:58] I think Senator Blackburn is completely entitled to ask these questions. It’s a point of debate. A lot of the concern that people in America have, certainly people in Tennessee have, Todd, is this sort of a war on traditional values. And you look no further than youth athletics. I mean, this judge may have to rule on Title IX issues. There’s real concern here, and we’ve seen so much activism take place. I think Senator Blackburn is trying to get at that. [00:46:28][29.8]
STARNES: [00:46:28] Yeah, I’m with you. And ultimately, it is probably one of the more important questions to be asked, because as you point out, that issue will come before the Supreme Court. Whether it’s a biological woman who was denied a spot on a team, or a transgender athlete, somebody is going to be filing a lawsuit. We all know how this is going to play out. And I think it’s a fair question to ask. [00:46:50][21.3]
HAGERTY: [00:46:51] I think you’re exactly right. That’s where it’ll be headed, and the Supreme Court is going to be the arbiter of this. So, you know, we will see about the timing, but I think you’re exactly right in terms of the destination. [00:47:02][10.8]
STARNES: [00:47:03] You know, on the Ukraine issue, do you have concerns about what’s going on inside the White House, President Biden making these wild statements that are having to be walked back? I think we’ve had at least four, maybe five statements that have had to been walked back. Do you have concerns about the president’s ability to lead, his cognitive skills? [00:47:26][23.3]
HAGERTY: [00:47:27] Todd, I’m as concerned as anybody serving in the United States Senate. I think you know this. I was the United States Ambassador to Japan before I joined the United States Senate. I’ve been in the role of representing America overseas. You have to be extremely deliberate and extremely precise in the words that you use, because those words matter. Those words actually dictate what our foreign policy is. We can’t have a president change policy on the fly. You can’t have a president that doesn’t recall whether he’s in a classified meeting or not. I remember the press conference. I’m sure you saw it, Todd, that was about six weeks ago. It lasted for an hour and 50 minutes. It was painful to watch it, but the most painful part of that was when he slipped, and he talked about what a minor incursion might be, and how we might not respond to a minor incursion of Ukraine. And I’m listening to this cringing thinking I can’t believe the president of the United States is talking about this on an open microphone, essentially inviting a minor incursion into Ukraine. I’m sure what happened after that is that President Xi Jinping and his team and President Putin and his team grabbed their English language translation dictionary to try to find out exactly what a minor incursion was, so they could go and do it. You know, Putin has obviously gone further than that. I think Putin seriously miscalculated, but when we have a president overseas who continues to misstate, continues to confuse, and continues to make statements as he has talking about regime change, I means he’s becoming a national security threat when he does that not only to America, but to our allies and NATO, talking about training, you know, Ukrainian soldiers in Poland, that had to be walked back. I mean, these are dangerous statements that are being made that put not only America at risk, but it also puts our allies at risk. This is a real concern. [00:49:12][105.0]
STARNES: [00:49:13] It is, and Senator, we appreciate you weighing in on that as well as the other issues. Safe travels down to the border. And thanks for raising significant awareness about what’s going on down there. Senator, we appreciate your time today. [00:49:27][13.8]
HAGERTY: [00:49:28] Thank you, Todd. Always good to be with you. [00:49:29][1.3]