YUMA, ARIZONA – Republican attorneys general from 11 states visited the U.S.-Mexico border wall in remote Yuma, Arizona, this week touting a more than 90% decrease in illegal crossings since President Donald Trump began his second term.

Their visit came a day before the House narrowly passed Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which in part allocates $46.5 billion to revive construction of the wall, which at its current stage covers just a fourth of the approximately 1,900-mile-long stretch separating the United States from Mexico. In Yuma, a city of just 110,000 people, local officials briefed the Republican attorneys general of Kansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Alabama, Montana, Iowa and Indiana on how an average of 1,500 people were illegally crossing the border a day during the first six months of the Biden administration. That’s dropped to about four daily illegal crossings since Trump took office.

In addition to the border wall itself, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach — chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association – told Fox News Digital the administration needs other “force multipliers,” especially with the task of carrying out the “largest interior removal since the Eisenhower administration.” He announced an additional three GOP states entered into 287(G) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which means local and state deputies and officers are trained to exercise federal law enforcement powers, including making immigration-related arrests, initiating removal processes, conducting investigations and tapping into ICE databases. 

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“The thing the Trump administration needs the most right now is force multipliers,” Kobach said. “Even if we doubled the number of Border Patrol agents at ICE stations, we still wouldn’t have enough. This border wall, which I’m looking at, is one force multiplier at the border. The other big force multiplier is state and local law enforcement signing 287(g) agreements and then helping ICE in the interior. And that’s where the red states are leading the way.” 

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said 540 kilograms of fentanyl and 850 kilograms of cocaine were trafficked into the Palmetto State originated from Mexican drug cartels. One kilo alone is enough to kill half a million people. 

“This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I have two teenage kids in high school. When you hear about parents losing a kid in an overdose, it really strikes at your core. And so it’s not just about law enforcement, it’s about national security,” Wilson told Fox News Digital. “As a 29-year veteran of the Army, an Iraq war veteran. I think in terms of national security, as well as law enforcement. This right here, what happens here, President Trump’s policies here have empowered local law enforcement and local and state prosecutors like myself to be able to more effectively combat the illicit activity, starting with Mexican drug cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua.” 

Wilson said it’s important to fortify a “digital border,” noting how Mexican drug cartels, Chinese nationals and other illicit criminal organizations launder the proceeds of human and drug trafficking and other crimes using platforms such as WeChat. Wilson has partnered with North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, and attorneys general from four other states in a bipartisan effort to target the Chinese app allegedly linked to the international fentanyl trade. 

The 11 Republican attorneys general in Yuma highlighted the importance of making the trip to the southern border despite their home states not directly bordering Mexico. Under the Biden administration, the Republicans argued that every state became a border state with the trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, as well as people across the border. 

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“In the dark days of the Biden administration, this part of the border saw 1,500 illegal crossings a day. Today? Just four. That’s leadership,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said. “In Kentucky, we lost 1,400 lives last year to drugs coming over this border. That’s not abstract—it’s empty chairs at kitchen tables. I’m here to thank the men and women who wear the badge, who’ve made this border secure again.”

Republican attorneys general hold up makeshift fencing used during the Biden administration surge in Yuma, Arizona, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Danielle Wallace/Fox News Digital)

“Alabama may not be a border state, but we’ve seen the cost of an open border – fentanyl deaths, rising crime. The difference now? It’s not the law that changed, it’s the leadership,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said. “Border encounters are down 93%, gotaways down 95%. That’s the result of letting immigration enforcement do their jobs. We’re no longer the last line of defense—we’re partners in restoring the rule of law.”

“When federal officials can’t do their jobs, every state becomes a border state—even Indiana,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said. “We were the first non-border state to sue the Biden administration over its lawless immigration policies. Now, under new leadership, morale at the border has skyrocketed. I’m here not just for our law enforcement, but for the teachers overwhelmed by the fallout, for the parents and professionals caught in a broken system. Enough is enough.”

A stop on the tour included seeing pallets of $2 million worth of border wall supplies paid for under Trump’s first term that the Biden administration prevented federal contractors from erecting – something Kobach categorized as “dereliction of duty” and “deliberate efforts to keep our border open.” The Republican attorneys general also heard from the local hospital system, which incurred $26 million in unreimbursed care costs during a six-month period between December 2021 and May 2022 primarily due to treating migrants. At the peak of the crisis, approximately 350,000 illegal aliens crossed the border through the Yuma sector in a single year under the Biden administration. 

The surge caused $1.2 million in losses to three family farms in the region, as migrants camped out and defecated around crops. Local officials underscored the national food security risks given Yuma produces 2,500 semi-loads of leafy greens per day during peak season. The Marine Top Gun School brings thousands more U.S. Marines to Yuma every six months, but live-fire drills had to be shut down due to the surge in illegal crossings near ranges, local officials told the attorneys general, highlighting how military readiness was also impacted due to the Biden border crisis. 

A stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border wall seen in Yuma, Arizona, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Danielle Wallace/Fox News Digital)

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, whose state borders the U.S.-Canada border, said he knew many of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who were called down to the southern border during the Biden administration crisis. 

“Many of them were rotated down here to put in pretty lengthy shifts. I heard the challenges. They were very, very frustrated, and a lot put in retirements. We had a lot of agents who just flat quit because they were demoralized,” Knudsen said, noting how Border Patrol agents who briefed the attorneys general in Yuma reported how the “difference is absolutely night and day” since Trump has returned to office with the amount of resources and support at their disposal. 

“During the Biden administration, Montana’s fentanyl seizures went up 20,000% – cartel fentanyl piling into Montana up 20,000%. During those same four years, Montana’s official count of overdose fentanyl deaths went up nearly 2,000%,” Knudsen said. “Every state has become a border state. That’s why Montana cares.” 

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown stressed how his state was involved in the largest bust in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) history announced earlier this month. Authorities seized over 400 kilograms of fentanyl. 

“We have highways traversing our state and when drugs cross the border here they reach Utah within a matter of hours. I recently met in fact a couple whose son overdosed on fentanyl. The availability of fentanyl that came from here in this area is mind-boggling,” Brown said.

Rep. Henry Cuellar is pushing back against his own party over its stance on immigration, criticizing fellow Democrats for defending an illegal immigrant the Trump administration says is a violent MS-13 gang member. 

“This is not the right issue to talk about due process. This is not the right case. This is not the right person to be saying that we need to bring him back to the United States,” Cuellar, D-Texas, told “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio. 

Cuellar was referring to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant deported in March to a prison in El Salvador. The Trump administration alleges that Abrego Garcia is affiliated with the violent MS-13 gang and publicized court documents for a protective order from his wife. Some Democrats argue that he was denied due process and are demanding his return. 

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, Abrego Garcia’s wife, said in a recent statement that she had been acting out of caution by seeking a protective order. 

“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution following a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order, in case things escalated,” she said in part. “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”

Cuellar said making Abrego Garcia the face of immigration advocacy damages the party’s credibility with voters. 

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“Democrats should not take this issue,” Cuellar said. “When you look at immigration, is this the immigration case you want to take to fight on? In my opinion, absolutely no.” 

Democratic lawmakers are challenging the administration’s deportation policies, including flights sending suspected criminal illegal migrants back to Central America. Several lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release and requested daily proof of life for him.  

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Abrego Garcia crossed the U.S. border illegally, but later attempted to obtain protected legal status while living in Maryland. 

His 2025 deportation was described in court as an administrative error. However, some Trump officials say the removal was justified, citing his alleged gang ties. 

Cuellar, whose South Texas district includes a substantial Latino population, said he hears growing frustration from constituents about what they see as an inconsistent and unfair immigration system. 

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., speaks to the media about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, accompanied by Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., left, at a hotel in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Monday, April 21. (AP/Salvador Melendez)

“People were saying, ‘Our parents came in the legal way. They came in, became legal residents,’ and, ‘They came in and did it the right way.’ But when you see people jumping in, not knowing who they are,” he said. “That’s something wrong.” 

Cuellar also expressed support for certain Trump-era border policies, particularly regarding security and enforcement. He dismissed previous Democratic claims that the border was secure. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., center, accompanied by Cesar Abrego Garcia, from left, Cecilia Garcia and Jennifer Vasquez Sura, speaks during a news conference upon his arrival from meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Friday, April 18, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“It was laughable when they would say that the border was secured,” he said. “Why are we going to let people in when you have no idea who these people are, and then let them roam the streets of the United States while you wait four or five years for an immigration court hearing? That was wrong, absolutely wrong.” 

While Cuellar said he wouldn’t judge fellow Democrats for their choices, he questioned the party’s broader strategy on immigration and noted that some of the Trump administration’s policies were having an impact.

“The president has gotten Mexico to engage a lot more, if he can get them to play defense on their under 20-yard line instead of our 1-yard line called the U.S. border, then the better it is,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to face legal challenges over its immigration agenda. The Supreme Court is set to hear a case in May involving federal judges who blocked an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. 

Two speedboat racers are lucky to be alive after a terrifying crash at Lake Havasu in Arizona on Saturday in which their vessel went flipping and flying through the air before slamming back onto the surface of the water.

The frightening scene was captured on video as the speedboat was attempting to break a 206-mph speed record on the lake. It happened during an event called  Desert Storm Shugrue’s Shootout.

In the video, the white 10,000-horsepower boat was seen cruising at a high speed on the lake’s surface while being followed by a helicopter with a camera attached to the bottom.

The vessel appeared to be skipping like a stone when the front of it tilted just enough for the wind to pick it up, causing the boat to backflip completely.

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But the wild ride did not end there. In fact, the boat remained in the air and turned nearly 360 degrees horizontally before the front corner caught the water as it began to flip vertically once more.

Spectators could be heard on the original video swearing in disbelief at what they had just seen.

FOX 10 in Phoenix reported that both racers on board, who are with Freedom One Racing and go by the aliases John Wayne and Clint Eastwood to hide their identities, walked away from the crash.

The station spoke with Ray Lee of Speedboat Magazine, who said the racing team was hoping to make history over the weekend.

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A speedboat crashed after going airborne at Lake Havasu in Arizona, as the operator made a record-breaking attempt at 200 mph. (Credit: Speedboat Magazine)

“It’s a 388 skater and it’s estimated at about 10,000 horsepower,” Lee said. “So, they came to Lake Havasu earlier in the week intending to break the record here for the Desert Storm shootout. That was their first pass of the day and when they went over, the radar picked them up at 200.1 mph.”

Fellow racers told the station that the men on board owe their lives to those who built the boat.

“The last thing you ever want to see is a crash and especially something as horrendous as that,” shootout competitor Jeff Clark said, explaining that going as fast as the men were going can take away a driver’s ability to react. “At that speed, it doesn’t take much, you know, those tunnel holes are built to pack air, so the boat rides on top of the water. You know it’s like on a rail and if you pack up too much and that nose gets too high it’ll just – at that speed – take you airborne.”

He added that his heart dropped when he saw Eastwood and Wayne’s boat go airborne.

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The boat flipped multiple times while airborne. (Credit: Speedboat Magazine)

“It’s never something you want to look at when you’re out having fun as a driver, for sure,” Clark said.

Both Lee and Clark said windy conditions may have been a factor in the crash but also may have helped the two men onboard.

Lee told the station that when the boat cut the wind, it caused the vessel to remain airborne longer than if there had not been any substantial wind.

“You hold your breath, and you hold it until you see both racers emerge from the cockpit,” he said. “For the most part, uninjured.”

Since 1963, there have been 11 fatal racing crashes on Lake Havasu, Motorsport Memorial reported, with the deadliest occurring in 2018 when three people died when a boat named “Lickety Split” crashed.

Clark credited safety improvements for keeping the racers inside the vessel safe.

“Those guys are alive for one reason and one reason only: That boat was built not to come apart,” he said. “So, when they were sitting in that cockpit and when you look at pictures of the boats, it’s totally destroyed but the cockpit is in perfect condition. I tip my hat to Skater and the crew that built that boat because it saved that guy’s life, it saved both of their lives, there’s no doubt about it.”