Jackson on Border Crisis During Transition: 'I hope we don't have a terrorist attack'

Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) spoke to Texas Politics regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s (R) plans to attack the nation’s problems at the southern border upon his arrival at the White House.

When asked about President-elect Trump’s decisive “mandate” in the latest election, Rep. Jackson described the results as a “game-changer” for the national strategy concerning curtailing illegal immigration at the southern border.

“It's a game-changer, right? We're going to secure the border. We're not going to have transnational criminals crossing our border. We're not going to have gang members and cartel members crossing our border,” Rep. Jackson said. “We're not going to have Islamic terrorists, jihadi terrorists, coming into this country that we don't know about like we do now. So, it's going to be a big deal.”

Furthermore, we asked the Texas congressman about Trump’s strategy – if or when the border does become secure – whether the administration’s focus will pivot to finding and prosecuting criminals and potential threats within the United States.

He stated that finding these criminals and possible terrorists would “take a long time” and hoped there would not be an attack on the U.S. before they were caught.

“We're going to have to find them. That's a problem, right? [The Biden administration] didn't document anything about where they're going or who's here. And half the ones, certainly the ones that are jihadi terrorists, probably didn't stop and give them a name and an address when they crossed the border,” said Jackson. “So, we're going to have to find all these people, and that's going to be a job that's going to take a long time, and I hope we don't have a terrorist attack in the interim. If we do, it’s going to be traced exactly right back to Joe Biden's open border.”

Moreover, we recently asked Senator Ted Cruz R(-TX) about the importance of foreign policy and homeland security to Texans this cycle. He said securing the border itself would not take too long, and the supposed mandate given to the Trump administration would aid in this process.

“It was front and center, one of the major reasons for the overwhelming election result, number one. Securing the border is a clear and unequivocal mandate from the voters, and we are going to deliver on that promise,” said Sen. Cruz. “That's not going to take a year. It's not even going to take six months. We are going to see the numbers plummet [in] January and February of next year.”

When asked about the possible conversations he’s had with President-elect Trump, Cruz confirmed that securing the border will be an immediate priority.

“Absolutely. And more broadly, on foreign policy and national security. When Trump was president, the last time, we had peace and prosperity. And in fact, we saw with the Abraham Accords peace flowering throughout the Middle East,” said Cruz. “Joe Biden, the Democrats came in, and they screwed it all up, and we now have two major wars raging across the globe because when the American commander-in-chief is weak and AWOL, our enemies get more aggressive, and the world gets more dangerous.”

President Trump will assume the Oval Office on January 20.