WASHINGTON, D.C.–You’ve heard about thousands of unaccompanied children crossing the border from Mexico into the United States, many of them from Central America. While the president is pushing for a $3.7 billion package to build facilities to detain them and handle their needs, Mississippi’s 3rd District Rep. Gregg Harper believes that a clear message can be sent by returning them to their home countries.
He said this week on the JT Show, that he believes the president’s solutions are harmful to the country and to the children.
“The approach that the administration is taking, I think is pretty laughable,” he said. “It might work in the United States, but they’re trying to do messaging, spend millions of dollars on messaging, to tell the parents it’s a bad idea to come over here.”
He said he believes that approach is an indicator of an even bigger problem, that the president does not know how to effectively deal with foreign governments or with domestic problems related to those governments.
“That’s been the president’s MO over the years. Let me just talk to Iran about this or let me talk to this country about that, but it doesn’t solve the problem. When you have bodies of children wash up in the Rio Grande or you have stories of children abused in all kinds of ways, the president has pushed for amnesty or what he wants to do on immigration issues, without taking care of the very first thing that you’ve got to do, which is secure the border.”
Harper said he believes first, that illegal immigrants should be stopped at the border.
If that doesn’t work, particularly in the case of the children, then he said there is a very effective solution.
“You do it not only for these kids, but for the safety of kids in the future, this will stop and greatly diminish it when the people of Central America see the children are being returned.”
Harper has joined with a group in the House of Representatives who want to sue the president for what they say is blatant disregard for the checks and balances system and an overreach of the executive branch.
