STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
One grew up in Alaska; the other grew up abroad. One is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a descendant of generations of American veterans; the other, the son of an African immigrant and a descendant of Congolese chieftains. One was a government watchdog; the other, a civil rights activist. Both had parents who were homeless for a while, and both graduated from Harvard Law School.
Like you, they have suffered devastating loss and faced overwhelming challenges. Through it all, they’ve found victory over the hardships of life simply by choosing to Stand. Join Kelly, Niki, and their inspiring guests as they move beyond simply talking about issues and challenges, to exploring how to solve and overcome them. Together, we will build a movement of everyday Americans who courageously take a stand for freedom, truth, and a country led by “We the People.”
STAND with Kelly and Niki Tshibaka
Border Crisis: Unseen Impacts and Urgent Reforms
Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom uncovers the alarming realities of the border crisis and its repercussions on Alaska and beyond. From her recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Nancy shares a gripping account of the stark contrasts in border security measures between different administrations. Her vivid descriptions of the dire conditions faced by undocumented children at risk of trafficking and exploitation offer a sobering perspective on the current administration's handling of the situation. With a critical eye, Nancy delves into the implications of a large influx of undocumented individuals, raising concerns over national security, economic stability, and crime.
In our discussion, we explore the urgent need for immigration policy reform to create a more streamlined and effective process for legal immigrants. Nancy voices the frustrations of those who navigate the legal immigration channels and their fears regarding national security threats posed by illegal immigration. We delve into the implications of these issues on the American economy and the specific impact on Alaskans. Stay engaged as Nancy outlines her congressional campaign goals and her plans to tackle these critical challenges head-on for the benefit of her state and the nation.
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Welcome back everyone. You are on stand with Kelly and Nikki Chebaka, and we have the redoubtable Lieutenant Governor, nancy Dahlstrom, on with us today talking about her race to become the next representative for Alaska in the House of Representatives in DC and to unseat our current incumbent, mary Peltola. Nancy, we'd like to talk to you now and get into the meat of things, the issues, and get your sense of some of the bigger issues facing the nation and impacting Alaska, and we'd like to start off with the border crisis, because we know that you actually took the time to go down to the border and see for yourself what's happening down there, and that's an issue of great concern and interest for Alaskans. So can you talk to us about what happened down there, what you saw, what you experienced and what your position is on this migrant crisis?
Speaker 2:And I also think we should point out I don't think either our representative nor our senior senator have done that yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they haven't. I don't think they've gone down to the border. So have they.
Speaker 3:If they haven't, they haven't said anything. So you know, I'll tell you what going there was an experience that I'll never forget, and I'm glad I saw it with my own two eyes. It's even worse than what you see on TV, you know, or on any of the news outlets, but I was there from midnight till about three thirty in the morning, and we were there with the Border Patrol agents, with the sheriff, with with a retired sheriff from the area, and then Dan Wolf who worked with President Trump, and we and some local farmers and other people were there. So we went. I was standing in there by the wall, the beautiful, it's beautiful, the wall that Trump had built 30 feet tall. The top of it, the top six feet, are smooth metal. So even if somebody can shimmy their way, you know, get up there it's very hard to get over the very top of it. But even so, officers told me that it happens now and then. And then you see the part that Biden or, excuse me, that Obama built, and it's about 10, 12 feet lower and it's not as firm. And then you see the part that Biden built and the officers refer to it as the chicken wire portion, and really that's kind of how it is. It's this more flimsy, almost like a backyard chain link type fence. You can go under it, you can go over it. It's insane. But we're standing there and all of a sudden I could hear kids talking and I thought this is where there's no kids around. And then I can hear adults. And then all of a sudden, behind me, I see in the dark, I see these shadows walking behind me and step back and watch them go along.
Speaker 3:And then they came. They went to the end of the wall and they came around. There was about, there was between 80 to 100 of them, men and women, some small children. I didn't see any older people. There was more men than women and I'm going to say they were very healthy, looking, one could say fighting age. And you know, I don't know if they were families, you know, or who the children belonged to. Really they were from seven different countries, just in this small group, and the majority of them didn't speak English. The officers had to stand there, almost act like a social worker, keep them in line, hand them water, stood there and watched one of the men actually just go up to the officer and flip him off right in front of his face, just so disrespectful, even after he just entered our country.
Speaker 3:These people were put on vans, air-conditioned vans, driven to a warehouse-type place where they were given some paperwork and, I'm told, a sack lunch that was full, a very healthy, hearty lunch, I'm told. And then they were put on air conditioned buses and from there driven to a processing center, and so we watched. We went to the processing center and we saw them, amazing how many people were on. Everybody had what looked like an iPhone, even the little kids, and there was a big, long charging station set up where they could charge and the kids were on their phones and laughing and playing. I heard people calling and talking and I don't know what they were saying. I don't speak Spanish so I didn't understand any of it, but there was people asking them where do you want to go in the United States? And they would tell them and then it's our obligation as a country. Then thanks, president Biden, that we sent them to where they wanted to go. You know it was really disturbing to see.
Speaker 3:But the thing that hit me the most was I learned that there's 85 000 children that have come across the border. They're they're undocumented children. They didn't have an adult sponsor or chaperone with them. They came and I said to the officers oh, come on, how can this be? They said they have a note. They'll have a note safety pinned on the back of their shirt up by their neckline and it'll say my name is such and such, or my grandma or my aunt or whatever it is. Here's a number, call them. They will come and get me or put me on a bus and send me there. Our people have to send them there.
Speaker 3:We don't know who these kids are, we don't know where they're going, we have no way to confirm. And yet we do know that in our country we have a huge problem with sexual trafficking, domestic traffic, you know, physical labor, all of these things. I mean, honestly, you and I know some of those kids aren't even alive anymore. I mean, unfortunately they could be doing any number of things and we have no idea. And that just really made me sick to my stomach to think about it. But we've got 11 plus million people that are in this country. We don't know where they are again, who they are, what they're doing, and nobody in the Biden administration seems to be bothered by that at all and I find it very unsettling myself. And yet we have states that are giving them programs, all kind of free, medical free, all these different things.
Speaker 3:We went to the local hospital there in Yuma and talked with the CEO at the hospital and some of the workers in the emergency room and they said they'd been working for months and months straight without a day off. They have all these people that will come in. The emergency room is full, they're lined up outside. They can't even get everybody taken care of. I mean, it's just a constant line. And then local people will come. They can't even be seen because these illegal folks are there and they're getting care. You know the food banks are being hit hard. They're handing out food like crazy to all these illegal people and again, united States residents that might need some temporary assistance aren't able to get any. And then you know I never thought about this, but in Alaska food security is a big deal because everything comes to us either through the air or by barge and I didn't know that the Yuma area produces 90 percent of the fresh produce and lettuce that our country has.
Speaker 3:When these illegals come across and they lay down in their fields or walk through the fields or do anything that disturbs them. I mean, even if a dog comes and urinates on the crops, they have to destroy those crops and my first thought was, oh, you're going to till the ground and it'll just act as a fertilizer. No, they have to actually pull everything up, uproot it, destroy it and then replant. And this is all at the expense of the farmers. And you know they've said there's no insurance for this kind of thing. So they're losing millions and millions of dollars.
Speaker 3:You know, and these are the same people that go to bed at night and they put out water and snacks on their front porch, hoping that when the folks walk through their yards that maybe they'll just grab that and keep on going, because many of them have woken up to an illegal person that they have no idea who it is sitting, you know, staring at them while they're laying in bed. There's been robberies, there's been other horrendous things that have been happened. Sometimes people just say, hey, you know, food, food, food, water. They want food and water, and so they set all this stuff out, hoping to sleep through the night, and it doesn't always happen that way. They can't let their kids outside to play. Nothing is safe in those areas because there's constant activity of illegal people going through.
Speaker 3:And you know, the other thing is drugs. Now, as a former commissioner of Department of Corrections, I know what a thorough pat down is and I watch these officers rub up and down their arm once and their leg once and say, ok, and that's all that they can do, that's all they've been given the authority to do. We all know that drugs can be put in many areas in one's body and also strapped to their body outside in many ways that you would not even notice underneath clothes, but these officers don't have the opportunity to check that, and so all these drugs are coming in and in Alaska we are being hit specifically by the fentanyl. Last year we have the unfortunate, the unfortunate fact that we had the number one fentanyl death increase in the entire United States per capita Number one. That is unacceptable.
Speaker 2:And that's been so. That's directly tied to the border crisis in the south. So we have the thought that you know, our border state is Canada essentially, but you're absolutely right, nancy, that our fentanyl crisis is directly tied to the Democrat border policy with Mexico and Latin America.
Speaker 3:Right, and people in the healthcare industry in Alaska are affected by it. I've been told that there are lots of people coming to deliver babies or going to ERs seeking care. They have no identification, nothing, and they don't seem to remember where they came from when they're asked. And so, again, we pay for all of that and then we have to wait in line. It's not okay.
Speaker 3:And our national security I'm talking to the choir, you know our national security is what's online here. We're ripe for something really bad to happen and we have got to get an end to this. If we don't close our borders, we do not have national security. It's a total, separate issue than immigration. We need to get the borders closed and then we're going to figure out what we're going to do with immigration, how we're going to handle those 11 plus million people, and you know what we're going to do.
Speaker 3:I do think we could make changes to our immigration policy. I do think we could shorten the time and maybe make it a little bit easier for folks, you know, with paperwork, but they have to go through the legal process to to be here, and there's nobody matter about about it than those folks that have come here legally, that know. They know what's happening and they know of the ill intent. And everywhere I go I have people that came here legally tell me how upset you know they are about it, but we have a huge problem with our national security now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that's national security and Americans being affected economically and in crime. It's a real, real big issue and so glad that you were speaking forcefully and passionately about it, because it's an issue of great concern across the country and, of course, here in Alaska as well. We're up at a break and we are going to be back to talk more with Nancy about her run for Congress and the issues that she's passionate about and what she is going to do for our state should she become the next Congresswoman from Alaska. Stand by.
