Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) discussed how Democrats could work with President Donald Trump and Republicans to secure the border in a recent appearance on Fox and Friends, saying a balance for deporting criminals and ensuring due process is observed can be made.
"For far too long, we [Democrats] have been focusing on immigration reform, but not really emphasizing border security," Sen. Gallego began, adding that many voters he spoke with on the campaign trail for Senate expressed how they wanted a secure border, and thus "what we need to establish as Democrats is that we do value a secure border, we do value sane migration coming into this country, and laws that actually deal with people that have been out of the shadows that can be calibrated to the situation at hand."
Host Lawrence Jones referenced the recent protests outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey, where criminal illegal aliens are set to be deported, asking how concerns about the criminals can be folded into a revamped Democratic platform concerning the border.
Does Texas have a constitutional right to defy Supreme Court on protecting its border?
"For those criminals or hardcore criminals, we should be extraditing them after the time is served," Sen. Gallego answered but added that the US immigration system is "so out of whack that even now, our ICE agents are grabbing people that were not necessarily on the target list from the President, [Department of Justice], or Homeland Security. Some of these people, for example, have green cards. Some of these people have been proven to have had legal reasons to stay here."
Jones then asked the Arizona Senator what he would tell Democrats on how to adjust their message, given that the ICE facility they protested at was holding criminal aliens.
"I think it is always good for the country if we stand for due process," Gallego answered, "but we should not be here standing in the way of the deportation of criminals. But the best way for us to ensure that has happened is to make sure everybody gets their day in court. You can even be as fast as possible."
