Walz says Abbott 'has a point' on border crisis

(The Center Square) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee, admits that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “has a point” on the border crisis.

The Democratic governor has waffled on his views about the border, opposed border wall funding, embraced so-called sanctuary city status, and blamed the Texas governor for the border crisis, The Center Square reported .

Walz also said in a recent interview that there is a border crisis and Democrats need to acknowledge it – breaking from the view of his presumed presidential running mate, President Joe Biden’s designated border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has repeatedly claimed the border was closed and secure and that she didn’t need to go there.

Walz said Abbott’s busing strategy effectively forced Democrats nationwide to acknowledge a border crisis exists and “the problem in Texas is pretty bad.”

When asked about Abbott’s busing strategy, he told the Ezra Klein Show, “Say what you will about him, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants around the country and created genuine crises in different cities in doing that. And he did it in a very low way – he didn’t offer coordination – but the fact that these cities went into such dangerous politics when they began getting migrants who actually were in Texas suggests the problem in Texas is pretty bad.”

Abbott refutes the repeated argument made by Democratic leaders that Texas created the problem, pointing to the policies of the Biden-Harris administration. He has repeatedly called on the president and Harris to secure the border and received no response. As the administration was unlawfully releasing inadmissible foreign nationals into Texas border communities after they illegally entered the U.S., Abbott launched the busing strategy to provide them with relief.

He offered voluntary transportation to self-described sanctuary cities. Since April 2022, more than 120,000 illegal border crossers volunteered to receive taxpayer funded transportation to six Democratic-run cities, The Center Square reported .

Abbott has also pointed out that the Biden-Harris administration has been transporting millions throughout the country on flights for years without coordinating with local officials.

Klein suggested that voters appear to be resentful against Democratic leaders about the border crisis “because they feel like a problem is tolerated.”

“I think it’s a reasonable read,” Walz replied, saying, “When they’re asked if it’s a crisis, you need to answer, 'Yes, it’s a crisis.' And then deal with it.”

“Leaving it and saying it’s not a problem is a political detriment to Democrats. Just acknowledge it is. You’re not denigrating anyone, and you’re not helping them – being the immigrants – by saying it’s not a problem. Because they know better than anybody it’s a problem. Because they’re stuck at a border community with nowhere to go.”

“I don’t disagree that Gov. Abbott is pointing out some of these things,” Walz said.

At another point in the interview, Walz said, “We’ve got to have border control. You’ve got to know who’s coming in. You’ve got to modernize that.”

“We have the right to control our border,” he said, adding that “the solution was the Lankford-Sinema bill.” He said the bill didn’t go anywhere because “Trump didn’t want it.”

The bill went nowhere because Senate Democrats opposed it and later distanced themselves from it. The bill doesn’t limit illegal entries as it purports and the latest Biden-Harris plan, critics say, would usher another two million illegal foreign nationals into the country, The Center Square reported .

Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate also opposed a border security bill the House passed, which the Senate wouldn’t even consider.

Walz criticized Trump, saying his idea of border security was “build the wall,” a plan that was “just so visceral that that’s going to keep people out.”

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden halted construction of the border wall and Texas sued. Abbott also began building Texas’ own border wall on state land.

After years of litigation, a federal court recently ruled the administration was required by federal law to continue the border wall’s construction.

Texas’ border wall is part of Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. The Texas legislature has allocated nearly $12 billion to fund OLS. OLS’s budget totals more than multiple state fiscal year budgets and more than what the Trump administration allocated to federal border security efforts in Texas, The Center Square first reported .

Abbott has called on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to refund Texas taxpayers, who he argues are funding border security for all Americans, not just Texans. A Republican Texas congressman introduced a bill that would require the federal government to reimburse Texas. Biden, Harris, House and Senate Democrats oppose the idea.

Appearing to break from Harris, Walz told Klein, “Texas shouldn’t by itself absorb or pay for this problem; we should all collectively figure out how to do it.”