Former VP Mike Pence urges return to Trump-era immigration policies in Arizona speech

PHOENIX — Former Vice President Mike Pence calls the border security situation in Arizona “a crisis of epic proportions” and is urging for the reinstatement of Trump-era border policies.

“We know what works because it worked,” Pence said in a public policy address in Phoenix on Monday. “I was there, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump.”

Pence made the comments just hours after going to the U.S.-Mexico border and meeting with enforcement officers.

He also criticized the Biden administration for repealing border policy he said was effective during his term as vice president.

“They stopped construction on the wall, they ended the emergency [classification] on the southern border, they restarted “Catch and Release,” they ended “Remain in Mexico,” Pence said. “It’s extraordinary to think about it.”

Pence thought the most visible of those policies – the border wall – is necessary and should be restarted.

“I saw stacks of steel girders piled high,” he said, referring to his trip to the border. “Girders that could already have added hundreds of more miles to the wall are now rusting.”

He also said banning sanctuary cities and ending all forms of amnesty are solutions to deal with waves of migrants.

Pence criticized Biden’s standing in the world as well, blaming that for attracting illegal immigrants.

“We have to have leaders in Washington D.C. who speak up,” he said. “[Who] say ‘Do not come. You will not cross our border but through the color of the law.’”

Pence said this standing includes how other countries view and cooperate with the U.S. – stressing the importance of the Trump administration’s relationship with Mexico in their immigration enforcement.

“Our neighbors to the south knew we expected them to do their part to secure their border, and ours,” he declared. “They showed respect to America during the Trump/Pence years.”

Finally, Pence said he hoped for a political change to get his goals on the border accomplished.

“I hope and pray and am working every day that a new majority on Capitol Hill can help to forge [new immigration policy],” he said. “With, in the not-too-distant future, a new administration as their partner.”