Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said that the U.S. will not find success in controlling the smuggling of drugs or the influx of illegal aliens at the border until it works to take out the cartels and cooperate with Mexico.
The Republican governor opined the U.S. must take drug cartels on “in a greater sense, with the cooperation of Mexico,” and that the country must “use tools that are at our hands in order to pressure Mexico to do more,” during a Friday broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Spicer & Co.”
He also told Newsmax that should U.S. Code Title 42 Section 265 be terminated, “a flood of migrants like you’ve never seen before” will cross into the United States.
The Arkansas governor explained that a revocation of Title 42 “impacts states like Arkansas both in terms of fentanyl that comes in, dangerous drugs that kill our young people. But it also erodes the rule of law, and it impacts the delivery of services that cost our public treasury funds.”
Previously, Hutchinson has described the ongoing crisis at the southern border as “disastrous,” saying that policies coming out of the Biden administration are causing a “human tragedy.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson: "What's happening right now [at the border] is disastrous. It's a human tragedy what we're seeing with the change in policy coming out of the Biden administration." pic.twitter.com/ti5j5nRwGA
— The Hill (@thehill) July 6, 2021
Hutchinson argued, “[I]t also takes an international effort. It takes pressure on China to control the fentanyl production, which is difficult with China’s adversarial relationship with us recently. It also takes pressure on Mexico. When I was head of the DEA, we went after the cartel in cooperation with Mexico. We had some success at that, dismantling the Tijuana Cartel, but they have rebuilt themselves and the cooperation with Mexico has been diminished. We cannot be successful on our border, whether you’re talking about human smuggling or drug smuggling or just the migrant flow that goes through there without taking on the cartel in a greater sense, with the cooperation of Mexico, we have to use tools that are at our hands in order to pressure Mexico to do more. That is the biggest challenge that we face.”
A full video of the interview can be found here.
Hutchinson has hinted that he may make a White House Run, as seen in an interview during which he spoke on the aforementioned Title 42 policy:
.@AsaHutchinson joins guest host @EdwardLawrence on his possible White House run pic.twitter.com/7RGOtBxTvF
— Neil Cavuto (@TeamCavuto) December 28, 2022
