Texas Mayor Claims Federal Government Ignored Border Issues

Rolando Salinas, the Democratic mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, says his administration “feels ignored by the federal government” regarding an influx of illegal immigrants streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Our city here in Eagle Pass, we’ve been getting slammed with 2-3,000 people a day and it’s just an unfair, unethical situation, what’s going on here in Eagle Pass,” Salinas told CNN Thursday. “We feel ignored by the federal government.”

Salinas, who for months has been highly critical of the Biden administration, in October declared a state of emergency over the surge. Eagle Pass has been flooded with at least 10,000 asylum seekers a day for weeks.

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Wednesday echoed similar concerns.

“Well, I think for many years, I don’t think they’ve listened to people who live here at the border and understand the border. I think the mayor from Eagle Pass is right. I mean, you know, what they’re doing is just processing people. They get people from Eagle Pass, Del Rio, send them over to San Antonio, flying from San Antonio into the interior of the U.S.,” Cuellar said when asked about Salinas’ comments.

“So, I agree. You know, the border has been ignored. They’re listening too much to the immigration activists. The White House and a lot of members of Congress in the Senate listen to the immigration advocates. But who’s listening to the border communities?” he added.  

Border crossings have topped 1.5 million over the past fiscal year.

Mexico said on Wednesday it had struck unspecified “important” deals with the United States after talks with U.S. officials on curbing record-high migration, likely a key issue in next year’s U.S. elections.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken led the closed-door negotiations for the U.S. side, and Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena told reporters she had pushed U.S. officials to ease any remaining curbs on cross-border trade.

Customs and Border Protection has closed major commercial border crossings due to manpower shortages.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.