For background, read Bensman’s: Recent Sky-High Levels of Illegal Migration Are Dropping Fast — and Here’s Why And also the modified version in The New York Post: Has Biden bribed Mexico to control border – and help him win the election?
Interview excerpts
Coglianese: So your instincts, Todd Bensman, is that this will probably be temporary, that this is designed as an election-year concealment of the disaster we have at our border. That, to the extent the illegal immigration slows down into the country will be in the service of Biden getting reelected and then open the floodgates.
Bensman: Let me put it this way: There are CBP officials who are saying that this is supposed to last through November.
Coglianese: hahahahaha… hahaha. Do they really say that? They said this is only through November?
Bensman: That’s uncorroborated, of course but that’s what the understanding is, that this is going to go on just through the election.
Coglianese: Haha.. Customs and Border Protection officials said this… so I’m sorry can you give me more on the sourcing of that? This is stuff you have heard from Customs and Border Protection people?
Bensman: I have a source. I don’t have it corroborated with a second one. But if any reporters are listening to this, you know, go for it man.
Coglianese: Yeah, Todd Bensman just threw out a huge bread crumb. Please seize it. That’s unbelievable and too perfect. Just crazy.
Coglianese: Mexico always had the ability to shut this down but hasn’t done it until now, have they?
Bensman: They did it for Donald Trump. Because when Trump was in office, he wasn’t into paying cash for those kinds of favors. He just brought out the big stick and said we’re going to put progressive trade tariffs on all of your exports to the United States if you don’t slow the flow down. And they did for those years, especially the last couple. But the Biden administration has taken a carrots approach and you know how that works. Once the check is cashed, suddenly you start to lose interest in doing things and the Obrador administration would just routinely let 50,000 of them go at a time and spread them out all along our border so you just couldn’t see them coming in a big clump. Really what this is all about, in my opinion, is that the Biden campaign perceives that it is in trouble, from polling that this immigration issue – especially when news drones are filming it from above, the thousands and thousands of people milling around waiting for Border Patrol to process them in, is absolutely terrible for the campaign. And I think the objective here is to just get rid of those images for… about a year. Or, eight or nine months. We’ll see if this holds. They’ll never admit this. Someone may write a book about this five years from now. But for now, Mexico is all of a sudden super interested in slowing the flow of immigration to our border. All of a sudden.
Coglianese: So their president, Obrador, has indeed asked us to cut him some big checks. He wants money. Is it your view that it’s likely that some sort of bribe or ransom payment has been made?
Bensman: Well, we prefer to call it ‘security assistance.’ Or something for equipment or you need cash to help with those flights, probably a lot more cash than it costs…But, you know, they’re not telling us whether money has actually changed hands. The Obrador government is also asking for some pie-in-the-sky things like, normalize relations with Cuba and end the embargo. That’s what we want…get rid of the sanctions on Venezuela… but I don’t’ think those are what this is about. I think this is about the $20 billion dollars that they’re asking for.
Coglianese: My impression is that Obrador would very much prefer Biden be president than Trump, and he’s really not made any secret about that.
Bensman: Obrador is not going to be president, but his party is going to be in office. His party is probably going to take the presidency. They most definitely do not want Donald Trump on the other side. With his big stick.
Bensman: Keep an eye on interesting new Mexico-related proposals coming out of the White House and its State Department. This isn’t over. The shuttle diplomacy between the two countries is ongoing. It’s still happening right now. So I don’t think the deals have been finalized. And if something does break down, remember that Obrador has it within his power to undo all of this in a single day. He can call all the troops off and we’ll have those 14,000 a day coming over like, you know, Monday.
Coglianese: We’re at their mercy, of the Mexican government.
Bensman: They’re in the driver’s seat.
Coglianese: What do you make, Todd, of this Texas dispute with the Biden administration? Texas is only trying to secure two and a half miles of border but boy I haven’t seen the Biden administration this interested in the border crisis, ever, as they are in Texas’ decision to try and secure it.
Bensman: Right. I’ve been reporting on this conflict. It’s a classic states-rights versus federal rights conflict over immigration. It’s on the ground. You can feel it and see it in the tactics on the ground where Texas is out there literally trying to block the immigrants at the river’s edge, won’t let them UP. They put razor wire down there and then Border Patrol guys would come in there and cut the wire and let them all through and process them into the country. Or bring a forklift in and lift the wire and let them all through. And it’s this cat-and-mouse game going on all along certain sectors of the border that are really busy. Like at Eagle Pass. The immigrants, from their perspective, run from the gray and tan uniformed guys. That’s Texas. And they are actively looking for the green uniformed guys because the green uniformed guys are the ones who are going to immediately let them into the country. In 24 hours they’ll be in Chicago. That’s why this continues.
Finally, you know, Texas had this one area really fortified. I mean, really heavy. In Eagle Pass. And Border Patrol decides to stick a field processing station right smack dab in the middle of it. To beckon all of these thousands of immigrants to rush the wire and get past those tan uniform guys. And Finally Texas just say, ‘you know you guys are kicked out. They booted them all out, the feds, and built the big wire around the area, Shelby Park, and won’t let the Border Patrol in there anymore. They said, you know you can operate the way you want to operate, just do it five miles downstream from us and so the immigrants will have to hike down and you can all do it down there but you’re not going to do it here. And it’s just kind of tit for tat like that. This is not over. It’s now also in the court room.