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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Addresses Border Crisis and Releases ‘Midnight at the Border’
Watch the full address and release of 'Midnight at the Border' where Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. travels to the U.S.-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona to investigate the immigration issue firsthand.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Democratic candidate for President, addressed the border crisis and premiered "Midnight at the Border," a 19-minute documentary film on his visit to the Arizona-California border with Mexico.
Kennedy visited the Yuma, Arizona, region in early June where he met with migrants, law enforcement, border patrol, farmers, health professionals, government officials, aid workers, community members, among other stakeholders.
In reflection on his visit, Kennedy said:
“This has been an extraordinary trip for me because I witnessed this dystopian nightmare of this uncontrolled flow of desperate humanity crossing the border and converging here because of misbegotten policies by high leadership of the United States and landing in Yuma, Arizona.
“After visiting the border I’ve come to understand that the open border policy is just a way of funding a multi-billion dollar drug and human trafficking operation for the Mexican drug cartels.
“When I am President, I will secure the border which will end the cartel's drug trafficking economy, and I will build wide doors for those who wish to enter legally so that the United States can continue to be a beacon to the world where diversity and culture make us great.”
Mr. Kennedy’s border policy will be founded on the following points:
- Ruthless criminal cartels have woven drugs, immigration, and human trafficking together into a multi-billion dollar business.
- Biden administration policy has greatly exacerbated the situation. The border is out of control. Immigration is being administered by the cartels, not our government.
- Just as a cell has a membrane, a country must have borders or it will disintegrate.
- Our policy will be first, to get the border under control. Second, to work with other countries to stem the tide of migrants. Third, to fully fund and prioritize the administrative infrastructure for lawful, orderly immigration to this country.
In terms of practical policy, Mr. Kennedy will control the border with technology like motion sensors, cameras, lights, and ample well-trained personnel. Trying to cross the border by stealth will become a losing proposition.
Secondly, many immigrants today simply walk over the border and claim asylum. There are 1.6 million immigrants living in the U.S. while they await their asylum hearing. Fewer than 15% will be approved. Mr. Kennedy will appoint hundreds more judges to deal with this backlog, and to ensure that newly arriving immigrants get a hearing before being admitted to the U.S. If claimants of political asylum knew their case would be heard swiftly, and that specious claims would be met with swift deportation, the cartels’ business model would fail.
Third, he will work with the Mexican government to stem the flow of transit migration through Mexico. We have to cultivate a more positive relationship with Mexico and work closely with its people and government who desperately want to be free of the plague of cartel violence.
Fourth, he will initiate a new kind of Good Neighbor policy. The U.S. will end its military adventurism and stop supporting despotic governments, juntas, coups, death squads, and repressive regimes that persecute and impoverish their own people. We will stop opposing governments that seek land reform, labor reform, and social welfare for their people.
The Good Neighbor policy means cooperating with Mexico and Central American countries to improve economies and provide economic incentives to help build jobs and develop much-needed infrastructure and a better standard of living, so people will be motivated to stay in their home country and enjoy their natural culture and heritage. This development will reverse austerity measures and relieve crushing debts that create poverty and send millions fleeing north.
Politicians in the past have appealed to xenophobia and bigotry in calling for a tough border policy. Mr. Kennedy’s call for a tough border comes from a different place. It comes from compassion and humanitarian conscience. He calls upon all Americans, of every part and political persuasion to face facts. President Biden’s loose border policy has been a disaster. It serves no one: not the migrants, not the nations south of the border, and not our own country.
We are in the midst of a humanitarian nightmare, an entirely unnecessary one of our own making. Conscience demands that we stem the tide of illegal immigration so that we can return to the orderly, lawful immigration that has brought so much dynamism to our country.
