EAGLE PASS, TX – Texas Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, joined Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” today live from Eagle Pass, Texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency due to the thousands of illegal aliens crossing the Southwest border and entering the community. In the interview, Pfluger details the ongoing crisis on the ground, the human cost of Secretary Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty, and President Biden’s refusal to secure the Southwest border.

On the historic crisis at the Southwest border and record-breaking border encounters in August:

“Those numbers suggest … that Biden has completely abdicated his responsibility for securing our country. There are thousands of people that are coming through Eagle Pass every single day. I was here last night and saw hundreds, if not maybe a thousand, people just in a short amount of time. Everyone is coming because they know that the ability to get here, lack of deportation, lack of security, and a wide-open border exist. We need President Biden to stand up right now. When we go back to Washington, D.C., this is my first priority.”

On cartel control at the Southwest border under this administration:

“I talked to many families last night, many people last night–not just families. Most of these are single males between 18 and about 35 years old, but there was one lady from Venezuela who was brutally attacked. She and her husband were kidnapped, separated, [and] brutally attacked. She showed scars on her face [and] the place on her head where it required 30-plus stitches. These are the kinds of things that are happening. The cartels decide who lives and who dies, what you pay, and who gets to go through; every single person we talked to was paying hundreds and thousands of dollars.”

On the devastating consequences of an open border: 

“Yes, these stories are tragic, but you know what else is tragic? It’s tragic for communities like mine. It’s tragic for the 100,000-plus fentanyl deaths in our country. It’s tragic for crime that is rampant that the cartels are causing. And it’s tragic that the United States of America has ceded control to the cartels at our southern border. That is unacceptable.”