Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday visited the southern border in McAllen, Texas, as he campaigns for the open Maryland Senate seat — and as the ongoing crisis at the southern border remains a top political issue.
Hogan met with law enforcement and public safety officials and told Fox News in an exclusive statement that he visited the border to “get a firsthand understanding of this crisis, and what I’ve seen should appall every American.”
“This is a humanitarian catastrophe that is harming our communities and wreaking havoc across the country,” he said. “Every day Washington lets this crisis continue without bipartisan action, they are failing the American people.”
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“For decades, the politicians have played campaign politics with this issue instead of actually just solving the problem. Enough is enough,” he continued. “The solutions are not complicated. In the Senate, I will fight to make both parties finally put the politics aside and get this done.”
The U.S. is in the grip of a border crisis now into its fourth year. There were a record 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border in FY 23. Thus far in FY 24, there have been more than 1.3 million, with six months still to go.
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Republicans and Democrats have struggled to find solutions that can pass both chambers of Congress. The Biden administration has called for more resources and immigration reform, while Republicans have largely blamed the rollback of Trump-era policies by the Biden administration for the crisis.
Hogan served as Maryland governor from 2015 to 2023 and made history when he became only the second Republican to win two terms in the state upon his re-election in 2018. The last Republican to do that was elected in 1954.
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll last month showed the former governor defeating both top Democrats in the running, Rep. David Trone, D-Md., and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Hogan beat Trone 49% to 37%, while he bested Alsobrooks 50% to 36%.
Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report.