Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema supports additional troops on border
Oct 30, 2018, 8:17 AM | Updated: 12:50 pm
(KTAR News/Matt Bertram)
(KTAR News/Matt Bertram)
PHOENIX — As a group of Central American migrants make their way through Mexico in an attempt to seek asylum in the United States, Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema said she supports a move made by military officials to enhance protections at the border.
“I’ve long supported having additional support on the border because our men and women who are keeping our border safe and secure do need help and support to do that,” Sinema told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Tuesday.
But, Sinema added, she does not believe that is all that is needed to enhance border security.
“I also support increasing funding for border security in smart ways, like buying drones, cameras, night vision towers, so we have situational control,” Sinema said.
“Some of the folks who are coming across the border are dangerous — Sinaloa and MS-13, these cartels, they smuggle in drugs, they smuggle in people. We do need a robust, comprehensive effort on the southern border, so that I support.”
Military and border enforcement officials said Monday that more than 5,000 active-duty troops will be sent to enhance protection at the U.S.-Mexico border as a group of approximately 3,500 Central American migrants make their way through Mexico.
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They are between the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, about 1,000 miles away from the closest U.S. border crossing in McAllen, Texas.
Sinema said less than 10 percent of people who seek asylum in the country get approved, but that the process takes too long.
“The individuals who come to our country seeking asylum need to get in front of a judge and have their case processed as quickly as possible,” Sinema said.
“That’s why I’ve supported legislation to increase funding for immigration court so that those folks can get their cases decided,” she added.
“We should decide those cases very quickly, send people back to their home countries if they don’t qualify, and for the less than 10 percent who do qualify, get them settled in the United States as quickly as possible.”
