Border security, inflation big issues for Texans: Sen. John Cornyn

AUSTIN, Texas - Border security and inflation are two of the biggest issues impacting Texans right now, according to U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

"Most Texans are experiencing a lower standard of living," said Sen. Cornyn during an interview with FOX 7 on Friday. 

Earlier this month, President Biden issued an order that bans most migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally from claiming asylum.

Governor Abbott called it a "smokescreen" for President Biden’s failed open border policies.

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Senator Cornyn shared a similar sentiment:

"Biden has issued 94 executive orders before this last one. Almost every single one of them was designed to dismantle the policies that the Trump administration had put in place. And you look at the math, you look at the difference between what happened under President Biden and then what happened under President Trump. And you can see that clearly. What President Biden was doing was opening things up. And that's again, documented by the numbers. The problem, in addition to just the overwhelming of our resources at the border and our border communities, is obviously the fact that the criminals, potential terrorists are exploiting this vulnerability," said Sen. Cornyn. "So this has been an unmitigated disaster. And I think this latest executive order is mainly a fig leaf. It's too little, too late. I think the president isn’t serious about actually dealing with this problem."

President Biden’s potential adversary in the 2024 election, Donald Trump, was recently charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records.

"I spent 13 years on the bench in Texas as a trial judge and a Supreme Court justice. And when I look at what happened, the charges that were brought against President Trump, which were basically misdemeanor charges that were leveraged into a felony case by a bogus association with federal election law, that the court actually didn't have jurisdiction of, to me it looks just way too political. And, what I worry about fundamentally, whether it's Republicans or Democrats in charge, is the politicalization of our most important institutions - the FBI, the Department of Justice and now our courts," said Sen. Cornyn. "And I've been in politics long enough to know that, once one side does it, then the bar is lowered. So the next time that the minority’s in the majority, they will then use the same precedent. So, I think this is really a bad development. I fully expect President Trump to be vindicated on appeal, because most of these charges were barred by the statute of limitations. And so I hate to see the weaponization of the courts."

As we head into summer, eyes are on the Texas power grid. While the state legislature has jurisdiction over ERCOT, Senator Cornyn noted that protecting the grid is of national concern.

"There are other factors at play. One is the fact that our adversaries are using cyber attacks, which can shut down the grid at key moments, utilities, we've seen some examples of that. And then just the fact that there's growing demand on electricity as a result of artificial intelligence development and the addition of data centers," said Cornyn. "So, this is going to be an ongoing problem. And it's not just a state problem. It is a national problem."