Daines says border visit cements his barrier beliefs

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines witnessed firsthand early Monday along the Rio Grande in Texas the separate apprehensions of two men, both from Honduras, who had crossed the border illegally.

Daines said one man told the U.S. Border Patrol he had planned to go to New York and the other said his intended destination was Miami.

The Republican senator had flown Sunday from Bozeman to McAllen, Texas, and rendezvoused around 2:15 a.m. Monday with the Border Patrol, with whom he spent several hours “shoulder to shoulder,” he said.

Daines returned from this stretch of the border he said is susceptible to illegal crossings and drug trafficking even more convinced that physical barriers must play a role in increasing border security.

He said Border Patrol agents told him barriers are effective and necessary. He said illegal immigrants and drug smugglers tend to shift away from areas of fencing or other physical barriers.

Daines said agents along the border near McAllen showed him from the Rio Grande the scouts whom drug runners post along the river to warn them of the approach of authorities. Daines said drugs “flooding across the border” include methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana. Mexican cartels reap billions of dollars from drug smuggling and from arranging illegal crossings for immigrants, according to Daines. He said Montana suffers from the scourge of meth and other drugs from Mexico.

The two men apprehended during Daines' visit, however, were not smuggling drugs, he said.

Daines said the agents he talked to said they had apprehended illegal immigrants from 40 countries, including Yemen.

The senator said he has not talked to illegal immigrants apprehended along the border about why they had attempted to enter illegally. But he said he has talked to immigrants who have entered legally and heard them describe a quest for a better life and the appeal of the American Dream.

On Tuesday, during a phone interview in early afternoon, Daines said he had not yet seen the text of the border security deal negotiated by House and Senate lawmakers.

He said reports that it might include about $1.4 billion for construction of new border barriers suggest the deal might be something he can support.

“It's a start,” Daines said. “It's a down payment.”

He anticipates the efforts to increase border security will continue.

“This is not a one-time battle,” he said.

Reporter Duncan Adams may be reached at dadams@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.