McSally: Immigration law changes, not border wall, will solve crisis
May 9, 2019, 12:30 PM | Updated: 1:48 pm
(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
PHOENIX — An Arizona lawmaker says a border wall won’t solve the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, as the number of migrants crossing topped 100,000 for the second straight month.
Even if the wall was built and technology was added to slow the number of border crossers, U.S. Sen. Martha McSally said the only thing that would solve the crisis would be new legislation to close the so-called “loopholes” in immigration policy.
“We could build the wall and do everything we need infrastructure-wise, but still with these loopholes in our laws, we’re going to see an overwhelming number of unaccompanied minors and family units,” McSally told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday.
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These migrants, who often come from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and other countries, McSally argued, “are making false asylum claims, being released into the interior of the United States and never to show up for their court date.”
McSally said she and fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are working on “loophole-closing legislation” that she hopes will be brought to the Senate floor.
“We need to have pressure on the other side of the aisle, we need 60 votes in order to move any legislation forward,” McSally said.
“It’s going to take the American people putting pressure on the Democrats to say, ‘Stop playing games, come to the table, close the loopholes, secure the border.'”
