Rep. Martha McSally continues to push for US-Mexico border wall
Mar 15, 2018, 5:01 AM
PHOENIX — U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) has continued to push for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In an interview with Fox News, McSally said in the past there were no barriers along the border, making entry into the United States very easy.
She argued that by putting up a wall, it would secure the border and stop drug cartels from trafficking into states like Arizona.
“I represent a border district, one of only nine members of Congress that does. What we’ve seen in the past is that when there were no barriers at all, it was a free for all,” McSally said.
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“We saw that in San Diego where the president visited yesterday and we’ve seen it in Arizona as well. We finally have a president who has the will and desire to secure our border.”
McSally said she will chair a House Homeland Security Committee Border Subcommittee hearing on Thursday to review Trump’s $33.25 billion request for “physical barriers, technology, manpower and roads” to secure the border.
“It is all of the things we need to stop the cartels from trafficking through our communities, which is a public safety threat,” she added.
“We’re working on a bill right now to fund our government and it needs to include a down payment on all of these issues.”
This is not the first time that McSally, who is running to fill U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat in November, has been vocal about border security.
Last month, the congresswoman was among a group of lawmakers who met with Trump to discuss cracking down on the MS-13 gang, which the president saw as a high-priority.
McSally claimed that “illegal crossers” are being directed by drug cartels to turn themselves into Border Patrol and make false asylum claims.
“If they are an unaccompanied minor from Mexico or Canada, they are then released quickly into the interior of the United States and we can’t do anything about it. Most of them don’t show up for their future court dates in the future,” she claimed.
“We know that transnational criminal organizations are taking advantage of the loopholes in our system. We’ve got to stop them at the border where I live — and that includes securing the border and closing these ridiculous loopholes.”
