On Tuesday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said that it’s logically correct that it isn’t realistic to deport everyone in the country illegally, but the way to address that is by changing the law and that’s not likely to happen. He also stated that “our constituents, the American people that elected us, have to be on board with us doing that. And amnesty is not an option.”
Host Rob Schmitt played video of Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) saying, “If you’ve been in this country, right or wrong, for five, ten, 15, 20 years, your children and your grandchildren are American citizens, people don’t want to see families broken apart. And so, there’s got to be a legal path forward — not a path to citizenship — but a legal path forward for people to come out of the shadows so that they can work legally, that they can pay their taxes, pay any back taxes owed, pay a fine, not collect government benefits, and not commit a crime. … We have over 25 million people in this country who are undocumented. You’re not rounding them all up and kicking them out. It’s not realistic.”
Schmitt then asked, “What’s your reaction to that?”
Mullin answered, “Well, Mike’s logically not wrong. And the fact is, if they want that done, if Mike wants that done, then Congress needs to pass a law, and our constituents will want to see that. Right now, if you start talking and polling it, 52% of Americans, regardless of their — of the way they’re registered to vote, [say] that we should deport all illegals. That’s just a fact. However, if Congress, which we operate out of the will of the people, if Mike’s logical argument there wants to be passed into law, then okay, then we’ll pass it. We can’t, though, because this is a very touchy subject, there’s a reason, why, Rob, we haven’t passed actual immigration reform since 1959, because it’s very hard and it’s a political talking point. I get what he’s saying there. There [are] 24 million illegal people. It’s very difficult to do anything.”
Mullin added that “the number’s probably higher than 25 million. But the truth is, we’re a nation of laws. And if we’re going to do something, if we’re going to restore American values, then we have to do something, and that is enforce our nation’s laws. I’m not okay with sitting here and saying it can’t be accomplished. It can be accomplished if we decide to move forward with it. Because, let me tell you, every time we take a criminal off the street, we get to focus on the next criminal. And, eventually, those numbers are going to come down, because we aren’t, as a country, headed in the right direction — and — until we started putting America first — America’s agenda first, which is exactly what we’re doing underneath President Trump, and I’m in the camp of saying, okay, we are, right now, asking law enforcement to enforce our nation’s laws, let’s do it. And I’m also okay with saying, hey, if we want to have this debate, a bigger debate on saying that, hey, we need to allow the people to come out of the shadows, as the argument that Mike said, okay. But our constituents, the American people that elected us, have to be on board with us doing that. And amnesty is not an option.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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