On Monday’s “CNN Newsroom,” former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) stated that she isn’t for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s idea for a wall along the border, and said of his plan to deport illegal immigrants in the US, “I don’t know how that’s going to happen.” She further argued, regarding illegal immigrants in the US, “I don’t think that you’re going to be able to round them all up. They’re not all going to come forward,” and that border security should be the first issue.
Brewer said of the GOP field in general that it’s “a wonderful group,” but “I’d like to see them basically get a little deeper, in regards to, some of the issues that are out there. I think that it’s important that we know exactly what their plan is for the Middle East. Certainly, I got involved in education — in politics because of education. I’d like to see what they would like to do with education, and I believe that it belongs to the states, but I think we need high standards, and that’s so important to them, moms and dads out there, and for the future of the United States.”
When asked about what to with illegal immigrants in the US, Brewer stated of Trump’s plan, “I don’t know how that’s going to happen. I think we need to take it a step a time. I’ve always, and will continue to say, that we need to get our border secured. There’s no reason why, in my position, from Arizona, they got California secured, they’ve got the Yuma section secured in Arizona, Texas is pretty well secured, but we are the gateway, so we bear the brunt of a lot of that illegal immigration.”
She continued that dealing with illegal immigrants already in the US is “a difficult situation. We have talked about that. I don’t think that you’re going to be able to round them all up. They’re not all going to come forward, but I think that before that discussion really starts, that we need to get our borders secured, because we have promised that our border would be secured, and then, it wasn’t, by Republicans and Democrats both. So, first, we have to get to the root of the problem, and that is securing our border, one way or the other, and then deal with all those other issues.”
Brewer was then asked, “Are you for Donald Trump’s wall idea?” She answered, “His wall idea? No, I believe that we need a fence. But, of course, Arizona — Mexico is Arizona’s largest trading partner. We are concerned about tourism, and we as are concerned about commerce, but we can do that if they would secure the border, and that entails a fence. There’s no reason why anybody can’t get across our border in Arizona in the Tucson section. It’s open. It’s open. anybody can walk across there, for all different kinds of reasons, not only to come to work, but the drug cartels, and we, we bear the brunt of it all in Arizona, and then they filter out throughout the United States.”
She was also asked, “Do you think it’s still difficult for women in politics?”
Brewer responded, “Well, I do. I think we’re judged at a different standard, and we get critics out there picking us apart for a lot of things. If we’re strong and bold, you know, we’re a little bit witchy, and if we’re mild, we’re not interesting. So, we get judged on our hair. We get judged on our makeup. Men don’t get judged on those kinds of things, and so it is. We’re — I think it’s tougher. You know, I have a record of 24 and 0 in elections, so I’ve been out there about for a long time. But, I — it is more difficult.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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