HARRIS FAULKNER (HOST): I want to bring in Thad Bingel, former chief of staff for Customs and Border Protection under President George W. Bush. Thad, thank you for being with me. Can we start with the tent cities for just a second? That's been such a sticky topic for people because it kind of harkens back to what we know happened in some of those tent locations under former Sheriff [Joe] Arpaio in Arizona. Is that a good idea?
THAD BINGEL (FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION): Well Harris, it's only a good idea in that we don't really have any other alternatives other than releasing. We are at max on our regular detention facilities, so the president is right that we have to do something or we have no alternative. So sheltering them there is certainly better than the conditions that many of these people are enduring in the caravan that William just reported on. We've seen them sleeping under plastic tarps, if that. So a tent by comparison is not a bad situation.
FAULKNER: You know, can I also ask about this offer of help for some of these people to stay in Mexico, education, housing. You saw William La Jeunesse asking people, well what would it take to sweeten the deal, is Mexico willing to do some of those things? Is it incumbent upon us, is it our responsibly to offer money or something to Mexico to help keep these people there? How do we fit in?
BINGEL: I certainly think, Harris, that we should probably do more to help Mexico if they're taking on the burden of either temporarily housing these people or even offering them asylum in Mexico or bearing the expense of returning them back home. That's a job that then we don't have to do and we should really appreciate, this is unprecedented levels of cooperation we're seeing from the Mexican government right now.
