Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy reiterated his concerns about security at the U.S.-Canada border shortly after a suspected terror attack at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls, New York.
Ramaswamy, who has been advocating that U.S. borders be "secure," reaffirmed his message on Fox News's America Reports on Wednesday by calling the northern border the "new frontier of the border crisis."
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"I have been sounding the alarm bell about the northern border for a long time. I visited the northern border earlier — I'm the only presidential candidate to do it. That’s where the new frontier of the border crisis is actually going. We have a bad crisis at the northern border," Ramaswamy said.
"More fentanyl was captured at the northern border last year than could kill 3 million Americans. And, in fact, in New Hampshire last fall, there was a Brazilian ex-military man who was captured and apprehended who had killed 11 people. So, this is a mounting crisis. We are ignoring it. The crisis at the southern border needs to be dealt with, but it can't cause complacency to the northern border either. I think it’s sad what’s happening," he added.
When asked about reports that the explosion came from the U.S. side of the border checkpoint, Ramaswamy said that even as the facts are "evolving," security should be increased at the northern border checkpoints.
"These are facts that are evolving in real-time. But I want to take the lessons we can learn early on. The security at that northern border — I visited those CBP stations — it’s not nearly as serious as the southern border, and I think we need to take that more seriously. Border security goes for all security near the border, not just the other side but on ours as well," Ramaswamy said.
"And we have a situation in the country; we have a number of people, tens of thousands, who have entered the country with bad intentions and not just coming from the southern border, they are coming from the northern border, too. Seventy thousand special interest aliens last year alone," he added.
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"So, I do think protecting our homeland has not been a priority for a long time, frankly in either political party, that needs to change now. I hope that we will get more facts as the situation evolves, but this is unfortunately another startling reminder of that reality," Ramaswamy continued.
The suspected terrorist attack occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the Rainbow Bridge that connects the U.S. and Canada at Niagara Falls. The car explosion on the U.S. side came during the busiest travel day of the year ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.