State Sen. Lance Bell (R-Pell City) said his recent visit to the U.S. southern border was “eye-opening.”

Bell, a former prosecutor, joined state leaders and law enforcement officials on a trip to see the border situation first hand.

“Not really knowing what to expect, it was a very eye-opening experience. We have a crisis on the border,” Bell told Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” program. “And I feel sorry for the men and women of law enforcement that is trying to protect us, whose hands are tied.

“What our government is doing right now at the border should be criminal. It’s that bad. They are allowing people to just walk across the border.”

Bell said many of the illegal immigrants who come into the country are dangerous people.

“These are drug dealers, these are drug traffickers, these are human traffickers that are coming in,” he said. “We also got to take a tour on a boat … and we’re surrounded by machine guns, we’re wearing Kevlar vests, and we’re going up the Rio Grande and they’re showing us pointing out things.”

Bell said the border situation is not just affecting Texas, but causing problems across the entire country.

“If we don’t start doing something, it’s going to continue to get worse,” he said. “Because what else we learned is they’re not staying there. We were in McAllen at the border, there at the Rio Grande – they’re not staying there. These people, when they come across, they’re coming into Alabama. They’re coming into Mississippi, Georgia, and some are staying here and some are continuing to go up north … they’re traveling everywhere.”

He reiterated the need for the federal government to get involved in securing the border.

“Texas DPS in two years has caught over 70,000 illegals that had warrants on them,” Bell said, “or had issues or were convicted felons, and returned them, and they turn around and come right back. And it’s just that one agency because the federal government isn’t allowed to do much.

“They returned over 70,000 back to the border – just Texas has.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee