Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake believes border system is working
May 4, 2017, 10:15 AM | Updated: 10:30 am
(AP Photos)
(AP Photos)
PHOENIX — Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake agreed barriers need to be in place along the border with Mexico, but as voters made clear in a KTAR News/OH Predictive Insights poll, a big wall was unwelcome.
“I think people in Arizona … understand the situation better,” Flake told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday.
The poll, released Wednesday, showed 62 percent of respondents said they didn’t want a wall built, as proposed by President Donald Trump.
“Arizonans know that, obviously, we need barriers on the border,” Flake said. “Some places it needs to be a wall, some places it needs to be a fence, some places it needs to be simply surveillance.”
That system is already in place.
“One solitary wall for 2,000 miles doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Trump signed an executive order in January to begin construction, but funding was not included in the $1.7 billion spending bill the House passed this week. Passage averted a federal shutdown.
Nearly a year ago, Flake said such a wall wasn’t feasible or advisable.
“I am concerned about the amount of money (estimated at $21.6 billion), that is outside of our budget constraints,” he said.
Only 17 percent of polled voters believed Mexico should pay for the wall, while 19 percent thought the United States should pay.
Flake noted the number arrests of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. had decreased.
“I think we’ll continue to reinforce the infrastructure we have on the border,” Flake said. “It just depends on the terrain and what the situation is.”
