CBP Agent Says Border Situation Is ‘Worst Crisis I’ve Seen’

When asked by a reporter from CBS News if he really meant it, Fernando Grijalva replied, 'Yes'

By Kathryn Blackhurst | January 25, 2019

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent Fernando Grijalva informed CBS News that there is, in fact, a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border — despite many mainstream media outlets’ and Democratic lawmakers’ insistence that the Trump administration “manufactured” the crisis.

The government partially shut down just before Christmas after congressional Democrats refused to give President Donald Trump the $5.7 billion he demanded in border security wall funding.

Trump announced on Friday — the 35th day of the partial government shutdown — that he had reached a short-term deal with Democrats to reopen the government for three weeks.

The deal includes no wall funding, although the president included a caveat.

“So let me be very clear. We really have no choice but to build a powerful wall or steel barrier. If we don’t get a fair deal from Congress, the government will either shut down on February 15 again, or I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution of the United States to address this emergency,” Trump warned during his speech announcing the deal in the Rose Garden at the White House.

One of the Democrats’ latest talking points — as well as many members of the mainstream media’s — is calling the illegal immigration and border crisis a “manufactured crisis” that the GOP designed to force the funding of Trump’s border wall.

They’ve called the idea of a border wall outdated, unnecessary, immoral and cruel.

But Grijalva maintained there is, indeed, a crisis at the border that no one manufactured.

CBS News caught up with Grijalva for a piece published Thursday evening called, “On the ground with Border Patrol agents working without pay.” In particular, CBS focused on a portion of the Mexico-Arizona border and filmed a group of 180 illegal immigrants whom immigration officials apprehended.

“Grijalva says this area has become a hotbed for illegal crossings,” a CBS reporter said in a voice-over to a video.

“I’ve seen six different presidents the time that I’ve been with the Border Patrol and this is the worst crisis that I’ve seen,” Grijalva said.

A CBS reporter asked him, “You actually will use that word, ‘crisis;?”

“Yes,” the agent replied.

Families of U.S. victims killed by illegal immigrants have been insulted by the liberal media narrative that Trump “manufactured” a crisis to try and force the construction of border walls.

Related: Trump Endorses Short-Term Spending Bill to End the Partial Gov’t Shutdown

The parents of Pierce Corcoran, a 22-year-old Tennessean who recently died after an illegal immigrant struck him by swerving into oncoming traffic as he was in his vehicle, spoke with Fox News host Laura Ingraham earlier in January on “The Ingraham Angle.”

“It’s real. And it really ticks me off when I see [Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi acting like a three-year-old and saying that it’s fabricated,” father D.J. Corcoran said. “He is dead. His death is real … It’s not fabricated. And he died at the hands of an illegal immigrant.”

“We feel that the government owes the American people better than what we’re getting right now. And it really just upsets us when we hear you saying that basically that it doesn’t matter,” D.J. Corcoran added.

The CBS News voiceover noted that “Grijalva says these patrols are dangerous, but that hasn’t stopped him or agents from doing their jobs despite not being paid because of the shutdown.”

“They believe that strongly in the mission and they know that they, that we have a job to do,” Grijalva explained.

When asked if a border wall was necessary, the agent replied, “Operationally I can tell that you without a physical barrier at border patrol we have a very tough time succeeding.”

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted out the CBS News video, writing, “While Chuck and Nancy argue there’s no crisis, @realDonaldTrump is fighting to address it.”

Check out more in the video below:

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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