Democrat lawmaker rips Biden administration for ignoring border cities: 'President is not doing enough'

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told CNN on Wednesday that President Biden wasn't doing enough about the border crisis and argued that the administration wasn't listening to the border communities.

CNN's Erica Hill asked Cuellar to respond to comments from Eagle Pass, Texas, Mayor Rolando Salinas, who recently told CNN that he feels they are being ignored by the federal government when it comes to the border crisis.

"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 responded.

"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. 

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Hill asked Cuellar why the president was losing so much support among Democrats, citing a Monmouth poll that found over half of Democrats disapprove of Biden's handling of immigration.

"On the politics part, and I'll focus on your question, we're losing Democrats. People, they are frustrated, frustrated because they're not seeing what should be done at the border," he said.

Cuellar added that people wanted to see migrants treated with "respect and dignity," but said they still had to "follow the rules."

"Right now, they feel that all they have to do is get to the border, and then they'll be processed and sent to the interior, and then wait four, five, six years to have a hearing where 87 percent will be rejected. And that's why we're losing Democrats," he said. 

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"They feel that the Democratic Party, that the president is not doing enough. And we're going to lose a lot of Democrats, and it's because we're not doing the right thing at the border," Cuellar said.

Salinas said in September that President Biden bears some responsibility for the border crisis.

"I believe 100 percent [Biden] does, he bears some responsibility for this crisis. I haven't heard from anybody in the administration. The president hasn't put out a statement, the vice president, I haven't heard from anybody," Salinas said.

"We're here, abandoned. We're on the border, we're asking for help. This is unacceptable," he stated. 

The southern border saw a record number of migrant encounters in a single day on Dec.18, as thousands flooded into Eagle Pass, Texas, amid a broader surge in recent weeks that has left authorities overwhelmed.