Republicans claim there is a 'war' at the southern border and cartels are ... trends now

Republicans declared a war at the southern border – and said the U.S. is losing the fight against cartels and human traffickers under the leadership of President Joe Biden.

In a press conference Tuesday, a group of seven GOP lawmakers led by Representatives Ashley Hinson and Jim Banks vowed to hold the administration accountable for ignoring and even exacerbating the crisis.

The group blamed Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the thousands of people who died of fentanyl overdoses and demanded that the administration designate cartels as terrorist organizations.

'The fact of the matter is that there is a war at the southern border and we are losing it,' Banks said.

The sentiment was echoed by Texas Representative Jake Ellzy, a 20-year Navy veteran.

'It's time we declare the cartels a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States and treated them as such,' he insisted.

'Because if this were a war, we'd be losing it. And make no mistake, they're fighting us every day.'

Every one of the seven members who took time to speak at the press conference on Tuesday evening spoke about the threat fentanyl flooding into the U.S. poses to their communities – even those who are hundreds of miles away from the border.

Some told personal stories or paid tributes to constituents who died of fentanyl overdoses, and others listed the exponential growth in the drug being smuggled over the border in the years since Biden has taken office.

'Mexican drug cartels have control over our southern border,' Texas Representative Beth Van Duyne claimed.