Recently, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill pledged his support for “comprehensive immigration reform,” a term he says does not mean citizenship but instead one that means attention given to the employment status of those here in the country illegally.
During an appearance on Huntsville radio’s WVNN on Friday, Merrill, a Republican candidate for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in 2020, reiterated those concerns regarding immigration.
Merrill told “Jeff Poor Show” fill-in host Will Hampson that his support did not mean he was “soft on immigration” and that the border wall should still be a priority. However, he argued those in the United States illegally that were employed, and those that were employing those illegally here, should have legal status so that they can have payroll tax deductions.
“[I]mmigration has got to be given attention,” Merrill said. “We’ve got to build a border wall. We’ve got to stop the bleeding on the illegal immigration. We’ve got to stop the hemorrhaging that we currently see. And we need comprehensive immigration reform. Now, what does that mean? Let me tell you what that means because I can tell you that some people are trying to say, ‘Well, that means John Merrill is soft on immigration.’ That doesn’t mean that at all.”
“Anybody that’s here illegally that has committed a crime, or that has committed a crime since they have been here needs to be out of here,” he continued. “They need to be deported. They need to be sent back to the country from which they came. But you and I — all three of us on this conversation know that there are people currently here illegally right now in the United States who are working jobs, right now — who are getting paid but the people who are paying them are not paying taxes for them, and the people who are getting paid are not paying taxes.”
Merrill went on to ask Hampson and the show’s producer if that was something they wanted to continue and insisted the only way to accomplish that goal was through comprehensive immigration reform.
“If you don’t, then the only way to correct it is to have immigration reform because we’ve got to identify these people,” he explained. “We’ve got to make sure that once these people are identified, they’re properly designated with information that will allow us to know where they’re working, why they’re working, what they’re doing and when their jobs are up. I’m not for providing a path for citizenship for these people. But I am for providing a path for full legal employment status for these individuals, and that will call for comprehensive immigration reform.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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