On Friday, Florida Democrat Representative Joe Garcia appeared on the Bill Press Show to insist that the border is safe, Republicans hate children, and that Obama should “parole” all illegals so they can “become part” of our system.
Host Bill Press, a former California Democrat Party operative and a left-wing radio host whose show is featured on the progressive Free Speech TV network, invited Garcia onto his July 25 broadcast to talk about the crisis on our southern border. But as it happens, Garcia didn’t think it was really that much of a crisis.
In fact, he felt America should throw open its borders and allow everyone to come in, explaining, “In the end, our long term interests, our natural resources, and our human capitol, a lot of it is going to come from [Central America] as it already is.”
The congressman went on to say that only “70 tea partiers” in the House of Representatives stand in the way of amnesty, even though Speaker John Boehner and now former Rep. Eric Cantor wanted it. But it is all stalled today, according to Garcia, with Republicans saying it is “the fault of children” that immigration reform isn’t happening.
“Since when does the greatest country in the world fear children,” Garcia said.
Garcia indulged in outright fantasy by saying that Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert “is against immigration.” Congressman Gohmert has never once claimed to be “against immigration.” He has been a leading voice against breaking immigration laws, but he never said he is against immigration itself.
The Florida Democrat said that it is “buffoonery” to send the National Guard to the border. He said that what Texas Gov. Rick Perry should do is take the millions of dollars he’ll spend on troops and spend it on housing and feeding the illegal immigrant kids who have found their way to the US instead of having troops “running around the border.”
Outrageously, Garcia charged that Perry was running a campaign like George Wallace who felt he “wasn’t tough enough on African Americans.” Perry, Garcia exclaimed, is now going to punish Hispanics so he can “find a space for himself” in his next run for the GOP nomination for president. Perry is being “hard on children,” Garcia claimed, just so he can win the nomination.
But Garcia also said this whole debate was much ado about nothing because “the numbers” of illegal immigrants “are down.”
After all, Garcia insisted, “the border is safer today than it was a year ago.” He also insisted that the border is safer today than it has ever been before.
Sadly, during their trip through Central America and Mexico, it is more dangerous than ever for the very illegal immigrants that Garcia thinks he is championing.
Garcia also claimed that Obama has deported more people than any previous president–by double digits–a claim that even the left-leaning Politifact said wasn’t true.
Because of these deportations, Garcia insisted, we have a “net zero” level of immigration today. “We are deporting as many people as are coming in,” he said.
Finally, Garcia said the power to fix this crisis is “purely in the executive’s hand,” and urged Obama to solve the immigration crisis by fiat. He said that Obama should “parole” all the illegals that are here so that they can “get jobs, buy houses and become part of the system.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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