Sen. Hagerty's warning after Biden admin's move to end Title 42
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., argues the move will lead to a 'collapse' at the southern border.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., warned on Sunday that the Biden administration’s move to end the use of the Title 42 public health order to expel migrants at the border, will lead to a "disaster of epic proportions."
He also warned that the "border’s going to collapse."
"There’s going to be a tidal wave coming across this border," Hagerty said during an exclusive interview on "Sunday Morning Futures" speaking from Laredo, Texas. "It’s going to be a mass of drugs coming across the border, illegal activity, and there’s going to be a tidal wave of humanity coming across the border at the same time."
The Biden administration on Friday confirmed it will terminate the policy at the end of May despite fears from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as officials within the administration of a massive migrant wave in the coming months.
Border officials have been warning that the border is already at crisis levels, with 7,000-plus encounters a day, more than 164,000 encounters in February, and that number expected to be even higher for March.
Hagerty told host Maria Bartiromo that Title 42 is "the last tool" that Border Patrol Agents "have left to send people back across the border."
"They’re already overwhelmed," he added. "They’ve got capacity to process perhaps 5,000 coming across the border, they’re now getting 7,000."
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO LIFT TITLE 42 AT END OF MAY, DESPITE FEARS OF LOOMING MIGRANT WAVE
Hagerty then warned that the number could go up to 18,000 overnight because of the policy coming to an end.
Sen. Bill Hagerty speaks with "Sunday Morning Futures" in an exclusive interview from Laredo, Texas about the Biden administration’s move to end the use of Title 42. (Fox News )
"In fact, what the president has done is send an invitation to come to America," Hagerty told Bartiromo.
62,000+ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS GOT PAST BORDER PATROL AGENTS IN MARCH: SOURCES
He added that Tennessee is already "feeling" the repercussions of the flood of migrants.
"We’re losing kids to overdoses every night and every day," Hagerty said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday claimed that DHS has "put in place a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to manage any potential increase in the number of migrants encountered at our border."
"We are increasing our capacity to process new arrivals, evaluate asylum requests and quickly remove those who do not qualify for protection," Mayorkas said in a statement. "We will increase personnel and resources as needed and have already redeployed more than 600 law enforcement officers to the border. We are referring smugglers and certain border crossers for criminal prosecution. Over the next two months, we are putting in place additional, appropriate COVID-19 protocols, including ramping up our vaccination program."
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Kelly Laco contributed to this report.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox