“I’ll fully fund and equip border patrol, shut down the flow of fentanyl, and end catch and release.”
Independence, MO — Today, Lt. Col. Lucas Kunce (USMCR, 13 years active duty) released a new ad on how he would employ his experience training with border patrol to address our nation’s border crisis, highlighting Hawley’s failure to secure our southern border. Lucas also committed to working to secure the border no matter who the president is.
Watch it HERE:
Here’s how ABC 17 recently summed up the contrasting visions between the two candidates on this issue: “While Kunce says Congress should act on border policy, Hawley says the president needs to repeal his border policies.”
Here’s are just a few of the ways Hawley has made it clear he doesn’t think securing the border is even his job:
– In 2019, Hawley bragged about voting against a border security measure negotiated by Missouri’s senior Senator Roy Blunt that included more than $20 billion in border funding, including $1.375 billion specifically for 55 new miles of physical wall on the border. Trump signed the package into law anyway.
– In March, Hawely voted against a spending bill that included $19.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection, a $3.2 billion increase above fiscal year 2023, and $495 million for additional Border Patrol agents. After the package was signed into law, fifty-six scanning systems that can detect fentanyl in personal vehicles were installed at the southern border.
-Josh Hawley helped torpedo a bipartisan border deal this year explicitly for the sake of campaigning. If passed, it would have added 1300 border patrol agents and more immigration judges to work through immigration backlog. Hawley is just like any other self-interested, faux-populist politician. If he fixed the border, then he’d lose one of his favorite campaign props.
While Hawley’s knowledge of the border is informed only by field trips and cable news hits, Marine veteran Lucas Kunce is certified by the Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
Lucas supports increasing funding to properly equip border patrol, shutting down the flow of fentanyl, and ending catch and release. Drug overdoses are the #1 killer of young people (aged 18-44) in 37 states, including Missouri. Opioids like fentanyl are involved in over 70% of instances. Securing the border is critical to addressing this public health epidemic. Lucas will also work to hire more border patrol agents and secure funding to invest in high-tech fentanyl scanners — two things that Josh Hawley has repeatedly voted against.
Monthly migrant encounters doubled between 2021 and 2022, a huge jump under a Democratic administration. They also doubled between 2018 and 2019, a huge jump, under a Republican administration. What we need is a new voice to cut through the noise: Lucas Kunce brings this much-needed voice and experience to this issue that has plagued showboating politicians for decades. He has said he’ll work with any president, and across the aisle, to secure our border.
Watch it HERE on Twitter, or HERE on YouTube.
A transcript of the ad is below:
Lucas Kunce: “Before I led a police training team in Iraq, I trained with border patrol at our southern border. I’m certified by the border patrol tactical unit.
When those guys had a border solution, Josh Hawley rejected it. He said securing the border just wasn’t his job.
I know better.
I’ll fully fund and equip border patrol, shut down the flow of fentanyl, and end catch and release.
I’m (LtCol) Lucas Kunce and I approve this message because I’ll secure the border, no matter who the president is.”