By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
EAGLE PASS – Vice President JD Vance toured border enforcement operations along the Rio Grande between Del Rio and here today.
Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales landed at Laughlin Air Force Base outside Del Rio this morning, then spent the next seven hours touring enforcement efforts by the U.S.
temporary fencing set up around a section of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass today as they
await the arrival of a motorcade carrying Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and U.S. Rep. Tony
Gonzales. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Border Patrol, the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
About 3 p.m. Wednesday, Vance, Hegseth and Gabbard met briefly with members of the media in Shelby Park, just a stone’s throw from the Rio Grande.
Vance began his comments by thanking local law enforcers, state law enforcement officers and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Vance said although illegal immigration and migrant deaths have plummeted since the election of President Donald Trump in November 2024, there is much work left to do in securing the country’s nearly 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico.
Vance began his remarks by saying, “I have some bad news and some good news, and bad news is that because of what (former president) Joe Biden did at the southern border for four years, we had record increases in migrant crime, in fentanyl deaths and in, just, floods and floods of people who shouldn’t be in our country who came into the United States of America.
“We also have a number of ways in which the cartels became more advanced, better warfighters, because Joe Biden opened up the American southern border and allowed the cartels to turn it into their playground. Now that’s the bad news.
“The good news is, as President (Donald) Trump said last night (in his) State of the Union (address), it turns out we didn’t need new laws, we didn’t need fancy legislation, we just needed a new president of the United States, and thank God, that’s exactly what we have,” Vance told reporters.
Park following a tour of border enforcement operations between Del Rio and Eagle Pass
today. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Vance said he believes Trump’s hard line on stopping the flow of migrants and dangerous drugs into the U.S. is already paying dividends.
Vance said, “I will say that the most heartening message that I take away from my visit here at the Texas border is the number of Border Patrol agents who have come up to me and said, ‘Thank you,’ or who have said, ‘Because of this, we’ve cut the number of border crossings from 1,500 a day to 30 a day,’ or the people who’ve come up and said, ‘We’ve seen a reduction of 85 percent in the number of people who are dying at the American southern border.’
“Every single day that we continue to keep this border safe, that means less migrant crime, that means less fentanyl coming into our communities, that means more safety and security for the people of the United States of America,” Vance said.
The vice president also told reporters there is much work left to do.
Vance said, “Of course we know the border problem, the border crisis, under Biden’s administration was a national crisis, but it acutely affected the communities right here, and I’ve already heard heart-breaking stories who are still picking up the pieces, local mayors who are still dealing with the budgetary consequences of what the Joe Biden administration allowed to happen at the American southern border, and that, too, is something that President Trump is going to help address, help fix and help solve.”
He said he wanted to bring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to the border because “the border crisis has become a matter of national intelligence, and it’s also become something that requires the Department of Defense to engage with.”
“The drone technology that the cartels are using, requires, unfortunately, a military response and military support, so it was important for Secretary Hegseth to see what’s going on, (and) because we know the millions and millions of people who were let in in the last four years, many of them are connected to foreign terrorists, so it’s important for our leader of national intelligence to get a sense of what’s here on the ground,” Vance said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
