Jersey on the Border, Pt. 1: We built it, and they're coming.
The first in a three-part series, CJN gives you exclusive access to Assemblyman Paul Kanitra’s trip to the US-Mexico border.
Mayor Sam Joshi awoke to a flurry of texts and calls in January of 2024.
The problem? A busload of illegal migrants were dropped off in his town of Edison. The Democratic Mayor acted fast, much to the consternation of the state’s Democrats, including Governor Murphy.
“Immigration is a responsibility of the federal government, including its shortfalls which cannot be filled by our municipality or simply passed off to another mayor,” said Joshi in a statement. He continued:
“Over the years I have expressed my disagreement with the concept of ‘sanctuary’ cities and states and I won't allow Edison to be subjected to its consequences.“
Fast forward to April 2024. Newly-sworn in Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-10) awakes to hop a plane from Newark to San Antonio.
His destination? The US-Mexico border.
Destination: War Zone
Kanitra first saw the border in Del Rio, Texas, then headed to Eagle Pass, then Piedras Negras in Mexico. Flanked by local law enforcement and Border Patrol at all times, Kanitra feels like a stranger in a strange land. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen.
“The deliberate coordination of all of it was something I truly wasn’t prepared for,” Kanitra tells CJN. “This is literally the US government funneling as many illegal immigrants into this country as quickly and with as little oversight as possible.”
You’d imagine the stereotypical tumbleweed roll across a dusty trail as a border wall (or in some places, depending on the President a broken down fence) stands in the distance.
It was not that. This was a war zone.
Marathon-length rolls of barbed wire, paramilitary troopers with machine guns atop shipping containers, and the constant ebb and flow of trucks and ATVs as if the third installment of Mad Max was underway.
“Texas has Operation Lonestar out there. It looks like World War 1 with trenches and battlefield fortifications,” says Kanitra.
The mission of the Texas Department of Safety? Block people in the river to keep them from getting to the U.S.
“As a result the immigrants are just walking up and down the river looking for Border Patrol instead of Texas DPS so they won’t make it on land into the U.S.”
And eventually they do, thanks to Border Patrol.
“The border patrol is like an irresistible tractor beam to illegals,” notes Kanitra. “They want to find Border Patrol. Border patrol will even cut Texas wires to let them in.”
Kanitra notes there are two types of immigrants:
The first are “Give Ups” where the Border Patrol policy is to process and move them into U.S. as quickly as possible and get them on buses as quickly as possible.
“Usually these are families, kids and single people swimming over. They deliver them to NGO’s who arrange travel for them,” notes Kanitra. “There are no interviews in Del Rio and Eagle Pass. This is the majority of illegal immigrants.”
“Runners” are second type, a more sinister one, as Kanitra explains.
“They don’t want to give themselves up. They have criminal backgrounds, don’t want to be caught. Happens in the middle of the night. Lots of cars filled with smuggled people in this area…. Downstream the real cartel has an inventory control system with wristbands and guards with machine guns.”
As the sun beats down on the Jersey shore legislator, one question comes to mind: how in the hell did it come to this?
It’s the policy, stupid.
According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (“FAIR”) there are eleven tried and true sanctuary states, New Jersey being one of them. Back in January, Gov. Murphy signed an executive order requiring 32 hours of advanced notice and limited time windows when migrants can be bussed to the state —and that there is the problem.
Kanitra asked Lt. Oliverez with the Texas Department of Public Safety what the root cause of the surge of migrants across the border was. He could’ve simply said “Gov, Murphy,” but in a video exclusive to CJN, he detailed the exact problem, with facts and figures that will leave your jaw on the floor:
So there you have it. To steal from President Clinton: “it’s the policy, stupid.”
In total fairness, however, it’s not just Gov. Murphy. It’s the Biden Administrations fault for not only incentivizing it, but also devising a system for other countries to come in illegally, alongside NGO’s and supposed “charities.”
We’ve seen this play out before on a cool September morning in 2001 that quickly became an event horizon in modern America, but that’s for Part 2.
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