President Joe Biden "did a disservice" to the Border Patrol, Texas communities, and the family of slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley by using his visit to the border last week to talk about climate change rather than addressing the border crisis, former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Newsmax Saturday.
"They finally get President Biden to visit, and he starts talking about climate change," Wolf told Newsmax's "Saturday Report." "These Border Patrol agents in the background are literally shaking their heads, saying 'Why don't you address the crisis that we have been facing for over three years?'"
But instead, said Wolf, Biden talked about blaming Republicans.
"He talks about climate change. And I think the most disappointing thing is he did not mention the tragic death of Laken Riley and how he was going to take steps to make sure that never happens again," said Wolf. "He never even mentioned it."
Riley, 22, was found beaten to death Feb. 22 on the University of Georgia campus after she went out for a run. Jose Antonio Ibarra, who was in the U.S. illegally, was arrested on murder and assault charges in connection to her death.
Biden and former President Donald Trump both visited border areas Thursday, with the president traveling to Brownsville, Texas, and Trump heading to Eagle Pass, Texas.
"President Trump went to where the crisis was because he's trying to be honest with the American people in laying out solutions for that crisis," said Wolf, while Biden was in Brownsville, which is experiencing much lower illegal apprehension ratings.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who traveled to the border with Biden, said the numbers are lower in Brownsville "because Mexico has stepped up their enforcement," said Wolf.
"His answer was not what DHS has done or what the Biden administration has done," said Wolf. "It's what a foreign country has done to help secure our own border as well as theirs, so I think that gives you a glimmer and an insight into their thinking."
Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland of Terrell County, Texas, also on Saturday's program, commented that in his county, "we're still dealing with those who cross our border illegally, not asylum seekers" and said things won't get better until voters make a "good informed vote."
"Not only did I spend 26 years with the Border Patrol, but I grew up on the border," said Cleveland. "This is my home community ... What's happening right now is complete lawlessness. There's no rule of law on our border. And our Americans, they shouldn't feel afraid to live on the border and live on the border with with what's going on."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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