In response to GOP governors sending migrants apprehended at the southern border to self-proclaimed “sanctuary cities” such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C., some Democrats are calling for Republicans to work with them to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Wednesday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) said Democrats just want “open borders.”
“Well there’s no question in my mind that they want an open border,” Palmer said, “and I really don’t understand why because it’s one of the reasons why Hispanic voters are coming to us in the numbers that they are.”
The congressman said he worries about the threats to national security caused by an unsecured border.
“I think this is a major national security threat,” he said. “It’s the kind of stuff that will keep you up at night, thinking about who’s crossed our border. We have no idea who it is and we have no idea where they are.”
Palmer also said the illegal drug trade is not just hurting residents near the border, but damaging communities across the country, all because the border is wide open.
“Last year, it was reported that over 107,000 people died from drug overdoses, over half of them are fentanyl,” he noted. “Think about in 10 years, that’s over a million people, and it’s probably underreported by 15-20% because so many families don’t want it on the death certificate that their loved one died from an overdose. We’ve gone from a war on drugs to a war with drugs … that is one of the biggest issues on why we should have a wall and have a secure border, because literally Americans are dying.”
The Alabama lawmaker said a plan is needed to deal with the illegal immigrants already in the country, but that’s a separate issue securing the border.
“I’m working on a plan that deal with the people that are here already,” he said, “but that’s not immigration reform. Immigration reform is the determination of who come into the country, and we need to reform that. We need to make a determination of who we want in. Canada does, Australia does. What the Democrats are doing, what they really want is open borders. This is extremely destructive.”
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
