For Immediate Release:
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Alison Esposito Visits Southern Border to Witness Manufactured Biden Border Crisis Firsthand
NEW YORK – On Friday, November 3, 2023, Alison Esposito, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department (NYPD), former candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and Candidate for Congress in New York’s 18th Congressional District, joined Polaris in conjunction with the America First Policy Institute, and the Baston Institute for America the Great Tour, for a visit to Yuma, Arizona to tour the Southern Border and the surrounding community. She was accompanied by Jonathan Lines, Morgan Ortagus-Polaris National Security, Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, Former Small Business Association Administrator Linda McMahon, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), Former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (NM-02), candidate for Nevada Senate Sam Brown, candidate for Arizona Senate Mark Lamb, along with candidates for the House of Representatives Kevin Lincoln (CA-09), Rob Mercuri (PA-17), Joe McGraw (IL-07), Craig Riedel (OH-09), Prasanth Reddy (KS-03), and Joe Teirab (MN-02).
The first stop was at the Yuma Community Food Bank, where the group met with the President and CEO Shera Merten to learn the struggles the Food Bank is having by providing resources for the Yuma community and the stress migrants are putting on the system. Over the last few years, the Food Bank has been having issues keeping up demand for families that are struggling to put food on the table. Their paychecks are not able to keep up with the soaring inflation as a result of Biden’s failed economic policies.
Following the visit to the Food Bank, the group traveled to view an old drug tunnel used by Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs into the United States. The Mexican Cartel digs tunnels and surfaces within the United States as a way to transport drugs and deadly fentanyl across our borders.
On Saturday, November 4, 2023, in the early morning hours, the group toured an area known for late-night crossings. While there, the CBP stopped approximately 80 illegal migrants crossing just 2 miles east of where the group was.
The group also visited a section of the Border where the Trump administration constructed a new wall system with 30 feet of barriers and lights. Despite having purchased all of the materials, the Biden Administration refused to finish construction of the remaining wall. The area left unconstructed is now being used by migrants to enter the United States illegally.
Later in the morning, the group toured the Yuma Regional Medical Center, led by hospital CEO Dr. Robert “Bob” Trenschel and Vice President, Machelle Headington. The hospital has roughly 400 beds, and when migrants have issues that require medical attention, they are transported to this facility. On numerous occasions, migrants received medical priority over community members. Unfortunately, the Yuma Regional Medical Center is forced to take a financial loss when treating these patients as they do not have insurance or Medicare. In some instances, local families were forced to travel hundreds of miles to the next hospital to deliver their babies because of a lack of space, supplies, and staff at the Yuma Regional Medical Center.
The group then attend a roundtable with Chris T. Clem, retired Yuma Sector’s Chief Patrol Agent, Yuma County Sheriff, Leon N. Wilmot, Yuma Police Chief Thomas Garrity, Mayor of Yuma City, Douglas Nicholls, and several other local community leaders to hear firsthand the impact the migrant crisis is having on the community. We heard horror stories of babies drawing, the immense amount of sex crimes and robberies inflicted on migrant women and children transported by the Cartels. These leaders are struggling to maintain public safety and security due to hundreds of illegal crossings on a daily basis.
The delegation then visited a portion of the border that intersects California, Mexico, and Arizona. At this location, the group also saw wall materials purchased from the federal government during the Trump Administration that the Biden administration refuses to use to build remaining pieces of a border wall. These taxpayer funded materials are being sold by the Biden administration for pennies on the dollar. At this location, one 30-foot section of the wall was left open for almost two years until the Biden Administration was urged by local community leaders to close it. Finally, they closed the gap, however, the materials used are less technologically advanced and considered less effective. During the almost two years is was open, Officials estimate that more than 150,000 illegals crossed just in that area alone.
To conclude the trip a press conference was conducted to reflect on the tour of the border and its surrounding communities. It was held at a gap in the border wall where migrants cross illegally daily.
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