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U.S. Senator Steve Daines joined local law enforcement, elected officials and a district judge to tour the Billings Police Department’s evidence facility Friday to talk about concerning levels of crime in the region. Daines sat down with Billings city administrator Chris Kukulski, Police Chief Rich St. John, County Commissioner John Ostlund, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder, County Attorney Scott Twito, District Judge Mary Jane Knisely, and director of the state’s Department of Corrections Brian Gootkin. The focus of the conversation was on rapidly increasing crime rates, drugs like methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl and the impacts those issues have on the community.

MONTANA – Senator Steve Daines said the southern border is “out of control” and a “humanitarian crisis” after a visit to the border last week. “We visited the Donna Facility,” Daines said. “It’s a tent city they’ve constructed to hold these illegal immigrants. It’s designed for 250 maximum with COVID restrictions. The day we were there, Friday morning, there were 4,200 in that facility.” Daines also tied the situation at the southern border to problems with drugs and violence in Montana. “Violent crime, petty crime across our state, the homicides we’re seeing here in Billings, the increase, that’s oftentimes tied

After his trip back to Washington, D.C. from the southern border, Montana Senator Steve Daines called in to the KGVO Montana Morning News show and told listeners how representatives from the Biden administration attempted to limit the 18 U.S. Senators from taking photos or videos on the southern border.

“President Biden and vice president Kamala Harris need to allow the media access to what’s happening on the southern border,” said Daines. “It’s a media blackout right now, Peter, I couldn’t believe it. We were walking around, 18 Republican U.S. Senators. We had our smart-phones in our hands, and we were taking videos and pictures and there was a Biden handler trying to stop us; trying to get in the way. Telling us to delete the pictures and delete the videos. Peter, I felt like I was on a trip to China or to Russia.”

Daines said he has never seen anything like how he and the other Senators were treated by the Biden administration representatives.

“This is the United States of America,” he said. “We have federal facilities and we have every right as Senators here to show the American people what’s going on the southern border, and she was chasing us. “Thankfully we got a lot of video, we got a lot of pictures, and we’re making sure those are being distributed so that the American people can see what’s really going on.”

Daines described what he witnessed when illegals crossed the border into the U.S.

“When an illegal immigrant comes to our southern border and crosses, they just throw their arms up in the air,” he said. They don’t run away from border guards; in fact, they want to be captured because they then will be processed and told to come back for an asylum hearing. Well, guess what? There’s 1.2 million illegals right now waiting for that hearing; their backlog is one to two years and they never come back. That’s called ‘catch and release’.”

Daines said with the cartels mocking the Senators with megaphones across the Rio Grande, he knows the sheer volume of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs are making their way to Montana.

“They are, of course, flooding the southern border with Mexican methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, and you know that’s coming right here in a Montana effect as I mentioned on that call last week the Cascade County Jail had seven Mexican cartel members held there for a period of time just recently, so this problem is right here in Montana.”

Also appearing on KGVO on Monday was Montana Attorney general Austin Knudsen who echoed Senator Daines’ appeal to shut down the flow of illegal immigrants and illegal drugs into the United States.

MONTANA – Thursday night, 19 U.S. Senators, led by Border Patrol, visited the Mexico border along the Rio Grande River. Among them was Senator Steve Daines. On a press conference call with reporters, Sen. Daines detailed what he saw, and talked about the current situation at the border.

“We watched, in real time, crossings here on the Rio Grande. I was on the U.S. side, getting ready to watch more folks cross in a raft. We could hear Mexican cartel members with their flashlights. Very powerful floodlights shining at us from the Mexican side,” Sen. Daines said.

The senator says the cartels know that crossing the Rio Grande has a price.

“Sadly, these Mexican cartels are charging thousands of dollars per person to come across the southern border,” Sen. Daines said.

Signs on the ground mark a path through the foliage, for those crossing on foot to follow.

“They direct the illegal immigrants where to go once they cross the U.S. border so they can be apprehended and begin to be processed,” Sen. Daines said.

Women and children were seen in pens – a holding area for them when Border Patrol finds them. But what’s more alarming is the COVID-19 situation.

“They are seeing at least a 10% positive rate. In fact, we just saw young people that tested positive for COVID on one side of a fenced area, and the others on another side,” Sen. Daines said.

Sen. Daines was told there is a 1.2 million person backlog of asylum claims. But how does this all impact Montana? He says it’s drugs, specifically meth, heroin and fentanyl.

“If you speak with the DEA folks in Montana, they’ll tell you the source of meth, heroin and fentanyl is Mexico. It’s the Mexican cartels,” Sen. Daines said.

It’s another illegal business that causes big problems, but brings in big cash.

“They showed us a recent meth seizure, that they found here in this sector, that had a street value of over 2 million dollars,” Sen. Daines said.