Dan Patrick on Biden’s border policies: 'What the hell did the president think was going to happen?'
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick slams the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis on ‘America Reports.’
Texas' second-ranking state official said President Biden's policies – which he believes are aimed at reshaping the electorate to benefit the Democratic Party – are directly connected to the murder of a Georgia student and the sexual assault of a youth near Lynchburg, Va.
"What the hell did the president think was going to happen when you let 10 million people – criminals, potential terrorists, rapists, murderers, gang members – cross the border?" Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Tuesday on "America Reports."
Patrick said that despite Biden and other Democrats claiming the president must sign new legislation to secure the border, he already has all the executive power he needs.
"Go back to the policies of Donald Trump from the last year or two of his office. We had [the border] shut down. President Trump's policies worked [i.e.] 'Remain in Mexico'," Patrick said.
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A federal judge ruled Wednesday that President Biden was responsible for the worsening border crisis. (Fox News illustration)
In the first 100 days of his administration, Biden made much hay about reversing dozens of Trump's policies via executive fiat, from the border, to domestic energy production, and in 2023, "forgiving" student debt by effectively transferring the promissory burden to taxpayers – which the U.S. Supreme Court later stepped in to halt.
Regarding the murder of Augusta University student Laken Riley during a jog on a wooded campus path by a Venezuelan migrant who entered via Texas, and the sexual assault of a youth in southside Virginia by another Venezuelan transiting through his state's border, Patrick said his heart breaks for every American family affected by migrant crimes.
"Th[at] young girl… and the hundreds of thousands who have died from fentanyl would be alive today if not for Biden's policies: He can shut this border down," Patrick said. He suggested the failed Lankford-Sinema-Murphy immigration bill endorsed by Biden was not a substantive attempt at border security.
"If you can close it at 5,000, you can close it at zero," Patrick said, as the legislation would have activated emergency powers after an average of 5,000 migrant crossings per day was surpassed.
Violent crime attributed to migrants are a direct result of the administration's refusal to properly secure the border, Patrick added.
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"[Biden] obviously has a cold heart," Patrick added. " "He's got a cold heart for all of these deaths that he's seen over these years. I don't know how he looks in the mirror."
"And he's coming to Brownsville on Thursday. Like, ‘thank you for showing up now, after all these people have died’ – He doesn't care. This is all about the politics of the future."
Patrick said Biden's actions depict a hope that millions of transplanted individuals from other countries come to the United States, become citizens and thereafter, voters, who will reshape the nation into overwhelmingly Democratic territory.
In a recent interview on "Fox & Friends," weekend host Rachel Campos-Duffy interviewed several migrants who crossed into the United States proudly expressing their support for Biden.
"They want millions to come here, become citizens, then voters so they can control the country and they don't care… who dies to meet those goals," Patrick said Tuesday.
He added that Texas taxpayers have usurped the burden of the the rest of the nation at the federal level, as he and Gov. Greg Abbott are taking as much corrective action as statutorily possible to secure the border amid Biden's lax behavior.
"I'm fed up, the governor's fed up, the people are fed up and America's fed up," he said. "And in November, you better elect a Republican to the White House."
Both Biden and Trump will visit the Mexican border in the coming days, while Sen. Bill Hagerty IV, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital that upon his own visit to Eagle Pass after several other ventures southward, the border is "the worst I've seen it."
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Riley's death, the White House said it extends "our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley."
"People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we'd have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE," the statement continued.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.