CLAY: We have a border that is an absolute sieve. And the attorney general of Arizona, Mark Brnovich, was just down there. And there is right now a caravan that is potentially going to become one of the largest, if not the largest, caravans to ever attempt to cross our southern border.

What did you learn, Attorney General Brnovich, and how bad do you think things are going to get during the course of this summer and into the fall?

BRNOVICH: Thank you, Clay. Thank you, for having me on. And it’s worse than people imagine. Down in the unisector, you’re seeing about 1500 apprehensions a day.

We know, uni-officials told me that they’ve already had 21 deaths this year from heat-related issues from migrants illegally trying to cross the border. It’s a human tragedy. It’s not humane, it’s insane what the Biden administration is doing.

But one of the biggest things I want to keep emphasizing because we keep using these adjectives to describe how terrible it is. But so far this fiscal year there have been nearly 1.5 million encounters of people illegally entering our country.

So these are the people we know about, not the got-aways. And that is literally like the population of a place like Dallas, Texas or San Diego, in just less than a year that’s tried to illegally come into our country.

We know the Biden administration now wants DHS to grant asylum. I’ve got another lawsuit with President Biden over that. So the Biden administration has decriminalized and incentivized people coming here.

And we are seeing the results, the consequences of not only a broken Congress — that’s damaging this country for years — but now when you combine that with Joe Biden, it is absolutely devastating. And literally, this is the biggest invasion in this country at the southwest border since the Alamo.

BUCK: This is Buck, what do you think reasonably could be — there’s a lot that could be done. Is there anything that the Biden administration could be pushed to do that they would be willing to do that might start to begin to secure the border more? I want to know, what should we expect? Because right now it feels like last year was pretty much the worst on record for illegal crossings. They’re going into a midterm election here with another year of perhaps the worst illegal crossing numbers we’ve really seen certainly in 30 years.

And I want to know what you think they’ll do if they do get wiped out in the midterm, if it is bad for the Democrats, will they start to take measures at the border? Or is this just going to continue on because they’re so ideologically devoted to it? What could they do? What would they do?

BRNOVICH: Buck, I think what is happening is that whoever is speaking in Joe Biden’s ear piece, they’re hardcore, radical leftists, and this is all part of that whole neo-Marxist strategy where they want to fundamentally change American society, not based on immigration, but they want people to become dependent on a central authority, Washington, DC.

And so the Biden administration has shown that they have absolutely no respect for federal law and they certainly have no patience for the Constitution. And I don’t think they have any discernible strategy other than doing whatever meets the far left agenda. They’re going to ignore the Constitution and basically deny it’s damaging anyone’s lives.

We know that places like Yuma, Arizona, Cochise County, Arizona, are being overwhelmed by not only by the amount of people entering illegally into the country and the devastation to the desert southwest, but also social resources.

A three day snapshot at the Southern border, and keep in mind, this is only what they caught. https://t.co/d6uYIbGXE9

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 3, 2022

That’s one of the reasons why when I sued President Biden and I argued earlier this year at the Supreme Court that they cannot withdraw the public charge rule because the Biden Administration wants to give benefits, housing, food, SNAP, all those federal government benefits to noncitizens. That will continue to incentivize people breaking the law and frankly coming here for the wrong reasons.

CLAY: What are you hearing on the ground? I know you’re running for the senate. Obviously there’s an open governor’s race, too. Arizona will be one of the top battlegrounds in the entire country.

We know how close and how much of a mess things were in the 2020 presidential election. What are you hearing from people on the ground about their opinion of the direction of the country and Joe Biden’s first year and a half in office as we sit five months from midterm Election Day?

BRNOVICH: I grew up here in Arizona. I’m a first-generation American. I know why people want to come to this country because the rule of law means something. And everyone has an opportunity, an equal chance to get ahead no matter who they are, how you spell your last name. And I’m a public school kid. I still live in the same neighborhood I grew up in. And when I go to the grocery store, when I talk to the postal carrier, when I talk to folks in our neighborhood, my wife and I are walking our dogs, people cannot believe how gas prices have gone through the roof.

People are smart enough to know when gas prices shoot through the roof that has an effect on everything. It affects what happens at the grocery store. It impacts what people are paying for rent or housing prices have gone through the roof. So people know something is fundamentally wrong and no matter how much Joe Biden or Cartel Kelly or Nancy Pelosi or whoever tries to deny it’s their fault, the reality is as a result of the reckless spending and these covid relief bills that spent money we don’t have and concentrated power in DC, and the Biden Administration canceling auctions, offshore drilling, exploration in places like Alaska, that has an impact on our economy.

And people know Joe Biden, Mark Kelly, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats are responsible. They control all the levers of power, and they’ve created a mess of our economy. Whether it’s at the gas pump, the grocery store or all the gangs now that are infiltrating our neighborhoods, people are upset and they know that something is fundamentally wrong. And, quite frankly, we’re on the wrong path. And that’s why, as long as we have good solid candidates that can articulate and defend our conservative values, we win. But we need to stand up to the leftist mob.

BUCK: Speaking to Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the state of Arizona. He’s running for Senate there as well.

AG Brnovich, the crime issue, we’re talking today a lot about progressive prosecutors and the reckoning of the American people notably in the cities where these prosecutors are making decisions that affect people’s lives, there’s a recognition, I think, that this has been disastrous. I know Phoenix has seen something of an increase in murders in the last couple of years. Has the state of Arizona been hit by the progressive prosecutor reality as well in any of the cities? And what could be done to bring down crime in your state?

BRNOVICH: I was a gang prosecutor. I began my career as a gang prosecutor, as a federal prosecutor. So I understand this issue. And I understand that when people enter the social compact, this is why people enter government and they elect people because it’s the primary function of government, public safety.

And, so, we now, in Phoenix, you have a democratic mayor, a democratic city council. They have demonized the police departments to some extent. We have the federal government now investigating our police department over allegations related to civil rights abuses. And so when you don’t have law enforcement’s back on a local level and when you have the federal government trying to micromanage what they’re doing, you’re going to get police departments that are worried about not doing their job. And they aren’t as effective.

We’ve seen that in bigger cities like New York where stop-and-frisk policies get revoked and you end up with more crime. As you guys have talked about, both of you have talked about, when you end up with progressive prosecutors in places like Cook County, Illinois and San Francisco, LA, that ignore crimes, they will not prosecute property crimes that are less than a thousand dollars, you end up with more crime.

And this goes back to the broken windows theory James Q. Wilson wrote about. When you allow so-called little crimes — property crimes, crimes with public spray painting, low-level crimes — you end up seeing more and more crimes. That empowers the gang. And then you end up with more violence in your communities. I have always been a big believer that you need to aggressively prosecute every crime.

If it’s a crime and it’s on the books, you have to prosecute it. If you don’t, if prosecutors turn their blind eye to that, then you will end up with more crime and a disrespect, quite frankly, for the system and the undermining of the rule of law. Once again, the whole reason our system, our country is based on a Constitution that believes in the separation of powers and federalism, but it believes we have to have consistency and certainty in the application of the law, and that’s what the rule of law is about.

BUCK: How is the Maricopa County prosecutor doing, Mark?

BRNOVICH: Unfortunately, rest her soul, the county prosecutor was having, dealing with some issues where cases weren’t being prosecuted. She recently just passed away. We now have a new prosecutor that’s taken over the county prosecutor’s office. So we’ll see how that office manages.

BUCK: It’s in transition. I didn’t realize. Interesting.

BRNOVICH: Yes. It’s been in transition. And obviously our office is doing now a bunch of drug cases because the cartels are pouring drugs into our state. We’re seeing the price of fentanyl dramatically decline.

We’ve been very aggressive in prosecuting human trafficking cases. But as you allude to, the county attorneys, the district attorneys, they’re the primary people that have to prosecute the armed robberies, the homicides, that is their job.

And, quite frankly, later this week, our office prosecuted a case involving a degenerate killer, who raped and brutally killed a 7-year-old girl, four years ago, and we are still fighting to get him executed. The execution is set for this Wednesday. And I tell folks all the time we need to have certainty and consistency. And when people commit the ultimate crime, they deserve the ultimate punishment.

I’m doing everything I can to make sure I’m holding these degenerate criminals accountable.

BUCK: Attorney General Mark Brnovich, state of Arizona. Good to have you here. Thanks so much.

BRNOVICH: Clay and Buck, thank you guys very much.