KINNEY COUNTY, Texas – A sitting U.S. President typically doesn’t deserve all the credit or all the blame for things that happen, but the negative consequences of Joe Biden’s border policy can firmly be placed on his mantel as part of his legacy. The criminal prosecutions in one border county that have increased by a mind-numbing 5,000 percent is simply one example of the heartache caused by the current president.
The crisis at the southern border has impacted the entire nation. Even Democrat mayors in sanctuary cities have whined about importing a fraction of the problems encountered by southern states as the areas nearest to Mexico have been hit hardest, and it’s not really comparable.
Ask the residents in Kinney County, Texas, if they are sympathetic to the whimpers coming from Chicago, New York, Denver or any other sanctuary city. The small Texas community — with a population of about 3,200 — has seen criminal prosecutions jump by 5,000 percent in the years since Joe Biden took office, reported the Post Millennial.
Predictably, the massive spike has forced community leaders to divert resources and created unprecedented predicaments, making life much harder for local residents.
During a hearing on the border crisis hosted by the House Budget Committee, Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith presented figures that nearly seem unbelievable, yet we see disastrous stories daily, so we know the statistics can be trusted.
Smith noted that in 2020 (Donal Trump’s final year in office), only 134 criminal charges were recorded in his jurisdiction.
“This drastically changed in 2021,” he emphasized, “after President Biden issued multiple executive orders revoking numerous border security policies that the DHS was operating under to successfully secure our border.”
Smith articulated that not long after, Mexican cartels “seized control of our border and imposed their own policies that would allow their criminal enterprises to thrive.”
Notably, in 2021, Kinney County recorded 2,708 criminal charges. In 2022, criminal charges in the county ballooned to 6,800 before tapering off 5,826 in 2023. The invasion of foreign nationals have left local authorities completely overwhelmed.
Smith said the county typically runs on a $6 million budget. However, Biden’s defacto open border policies have cost local taxpayers an additional $10.5 million. The costs are unsustainable in the small community.
Perhaps more staggering than the financial considerations are the unmeasurable costs of feeling unsafe and vulnerable to all manner of crime and other quality of life consequences, according to the Post Millennial.
Smith illustrated his point by saying, “Two taxpaying residents have died because emergency medical services were not available when they were needed the most.”
Instead, he sadly said, “All available paramedics were deployed to human smuggling events miles away and were unable to respond.”
“The violence and lawlessness occurring on our border is not sustainable for any sovereign nation, let alone a Texas county comprised of 3,200 citizens,” Smith concluded. “Make no mistake, the wilful neglect of this administration’s refusal to enforce the laws of our nation have compromised the safety of not only Texans, but every American.”
