There is a medical double standard in place that is greatly impacting border issues, according to Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, a Republican who represents New Mexico's 2nd District.
The number of people illegally crossing the border and entering the country despite being infected with COVID-19 continues to increase, Herrell said: The Rio Grande Valley Sector alone has experienced a 900% increase in confirmed positive cases among border detainees in the first two weeks of July compared to the previous 14 months, according to Fox News.
"Two words, double standard, because we're holding the American people to a different standard than we are people who are, remind you, breaking the law to get here illegally,” Herrell said during a discussion with Texas Public Policy Foundation Chief Executive Officer Kevin Roberts during the TPPF’s weekly forum Monday. “So here we have a 900% uptick in COVID-related cases on the border because of the open border. But yet we're going to start mandating everybody wear the mask, even those who've been vaccinated in our country. But it turned a blind eye to those coming here illegally who are bringing COVID, exposed to COVID and other infectious diseases.
“So it's time that the American people understand this is costly. It's cruel to those that are coming here, making the trek, thinking they're coming for greater responsibility and greater possibilities for their lives,” she said. “But it's costly. It's costing the American people billions of dollars. But we can't have a double standard that works. I mean, if it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander.”
Herrell also said she is appalled that the Biden administration is considering putting an end to Title 42, a public health order put in place by the Trump administration that allows U.S. border officials to remove those at the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Biden administration is under fresh fire from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union for the fact Title 42 is still in place, according to NPR, and says it will look to the Centers for Disease Control for guidance.
The CDC, meanwhile, issued a statement on Aug. 2 saying it intends to keep Title 42 in place for now and review the situation every 60 days.
If mask mandates are being imposed again, and schools will require students to wear them, Herrell asked, why not impose such rules at the border?
“Sadly, the American people, their voice is not being heard, especially by the leadership, by (Speaker) Nancy Pelosi. And in fact, it's a dereliction of duty,” she said. “Here we are with the border wide open. We have an economy that needs to get going again. We have energy that now we're seeing this administration push overseas, losing our energy independence. And we're looking at our speaker who's actually putting out a memo earlier this week putting the mask mandate back in order.”
She noted that a recent memo warned that the Capitol Police would arrest visitors or staff members for not complying with the mandate.
“Here is the irony of this. It's only effective in the House. You can walk right next door to the Senate,” Herrell said. “They don't even have a mask mandate. So to me, this is really what over-governed looks like. This is really why Nancy Pelosi should be the poster child for term limits. This is why we need them, because we have people who are out of touch with reality, out of touch with our districts, out of touch, seriously, with Americans, making decisions.”
Herrell sponsored a bill in January to retain Title 42.
“Yeah, it's a great piece of legislation because, number one, it puts the health and safety and welfare of the American people first,” Herrell said. “So I introduced it on the House side. Sen. (Ted) Cruz introduced it on the Senate side. And basically what this bill will do is it keeps Title 42 in place for a year after the passage of this bill. And they'll remember this is one of the health policies that President Trump put into place to help essentially protect our border and protect the health of the American citizen going through the pandemic.”
She called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky to back her bill.
“As the situation at the border continues to worsen, Title 42 has been the only thing preventing your border crisis from turning into a complete and uncontrollable catastrophe,” Herrell wrote in a letter to the Biden administration officials.
It was co-signed by Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.).
Herrell supports a discharge petition filed by Roy to force a vote on Herrell’s “Protecting Americans from Unnecessary Spread upon Entry from COVID–19 Act of 2021” or the “PAUSE Act of 2021” to slow the entry of thousands of people at the border.
It needs the signature of a majority of House members — 218 members — to bring it to a vote on the House floor.
“We're saying we believe that this policy is so important that we're going to put it down on the speaker's table and get as many members of that House chamber to sign on to a discharge petition so that once it reaches a certain number, we can go right to the floor for a vote,” Herrell said. “Right now, we have over 140. And so we're pushing on that. And I would ask you to encourage your members of Congress if they haven't signed the discharge petition to do that, because once we hit that quota of signatures, we can then force a vote on it on the House floor. And that's a bill that I think is worthy of a recorded vote.”
Roberts said the reality about the border crisis is “really ugly. In fact, it's tragic. It's literally tragic. And yet there are some actions that each of us can take that move us to a solution.”
Reading a question from an audience member at the discussion, he asked the New Mexico congresswoman if she believes there's a correlation between the rise in COVID cases in border counties and an open border.
“Oh, without a doubt,” she said. “I mean, in fact, the numbers don’t lie. In an administration that's so excited about science, this is one piece of science they ought to be watching. We've seen an uptick of about 900% in the COVID cases.
“And remember, we have over 130 different countries, people from every 130 different countries coming to our southern border,” she said. “So it's not just it's not just Mexico. It's not just Honduras.”
Travel restrictions exist across the globe, Herrell said — except at America’s southern border.
“The point is, if you look at what the Biden-Harris administration has done with their willing accomplices, the leaders of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, it really is a tragedy,” Roberts said. “If you're someone, regardless of your philosophical disposition, who believes that immigrants are important to this country, what the Biden-Harris administration is doing is not helping the situation one bit, including the very basic human level, considering the risks that these migrants have to take just to get to the border.”
Harrell said she has been accused of being bigoted against people trying to enter the country.
“You know, people say, well, you know, you just don't know, you're racist,” she said. “No, I'm not. You know, the uptick in mortality rate for those traveling through, not only when they leave their country of origin, but through their transit countries, the death rate right now is over 300 people who've lost their lives just coming here. And oh, by the way, no one's talking about the one in three women and children who are raped and pillaged on the way to America. So, like I said, this is a dangerous situation for those making the trip.”
Harrell said every American citizen is being placed in harm's way.
“And so it's not rhetoric, it's actual truth,” she said. “And I believe that common sense should be what prevails in this in this situation right now.”
That, Roberts said, is in short supply.
Herrell contrasted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordering that people with COVID-19 be transported back across the border with the Biden administration’s actions, or as she believes, lack of them.
“You know, it's like this administration has gone AWOL on their responsibility to the American people,” she said. “And I am so thankful Gov. Abbott … understands the importance of securing our border and the other states that are sending actual resources down to Texas and over to Arizona.”
Harrell said governors who are sending help to border states “have taken their oath of office very seriously, while others don't seem to understand what that responsibility looks like.”
She said she has written New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, three times to ask her to put National Guardsmen at the border, according to US News. Lujan Grisham, who withdrew Guardsmen from the border in February 2019, NPR reported, has declined to do so.
Harrell said she supports completing the border wall and the use of highly technical advancements, such as fiber optics and sensors.
“Listen, that border wall works,” she said. “I ran on the platform of finishing the wall, standing with President Trump to ensure that we're securing America's borders and people know that walls work. If they didn't, then we wouldn't have fences around the house. We wouldn't have locks on our doors.”
Once again, Herrell said, a double standard is evident.
“On Jan. 20 at midnight, we stopped all border construction on the wall. Yet on Jan. 21, we built a 10-foot fence around the Capitol complex. We can't have it both ways,” she said. “And I would just submit this: The American people should be more worried about the policies coming out of Washington, D.C., from behind that fence than what was trying to get in.”
Biden’s policies have meant a loss of jobs and a waste of billions already spent, Herrell said.
“It's a very hard thing to watch because we know how great this nation is and we know how great the opportunities are here,” she said. “This isn't how it works. And Americans become frustrated. They want the wall. They want some sense of stability.”
It’s a heated partisan discussion, but Herrell said it should not be one.
“But at the end of the day, this isn't a political issue. It's a people issue,” she said. “And I believe the value of Americans should be first and foremost and we should start having a sincere conversation. And the sad thing is this could have been handled by keeping the protocols in place that were working under the Trump administration. It's just that simple. And I think that's what's frustrating to myself, my colleagues and lots of Americans.
“And that it just kind of goes back to the old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It was working,” Herrell said. “And especially what is so frustrating, especially under the pandemic, when, listen, New Mexico suffered greatly as the whole nation did, but we lost over 2,000 businesses that closed permanently. They're not coming back.
“We have kids that are falling way behind in education because of the closure of the schools. And yet somehow the the idea that this is not a crisis, everyone in the world knows it except this administration,” she said. “And honestly, I think they know what to do. They just don't want to admit it, because I've never seen a group so, so concerned about trying to undo good policies that work for the American public that President Trump did, that they would be willing to compromise the future of our greatest asset, which is our children. And this is what is so frustrating.”
Herrell, 57, is a New Mexico native who owned and operated several businesses in the state and served four terms in the state House of Representatives. She ran for Congress in 2018 and lost a close race to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small, but defeated Torres Small in a rematch two years later, Vox reported, becoming the sole Republican in the state’s congressional delegation.