Republican lawmakers from southwestern states are blasting the high-profile immigration speech President Barack Obama gave Tuesday, primarily his rosy depiction of security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“While we have more resources, the border is more dangerous. Between 70 and 90 percent of Texas’ 1,200-mile border with Mexico is still not under operational control,” Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas.) said in a statement. “Despite the President’s rhetoric that he has gone ‘above and beyond’ to secure the border, this mission is not accomplished.”
Obama acknowledged Tuesday that his call to overhaul the current system would likely not find Republican support.
“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,” Obama said. “They’ll never be satisfied, and I understand that. That’s politics.”
However, some Republicans have charged that it’s the President who’s playing politics, and that the speech was primarily a campaign move to secure hispanic support, and not a serious policy proposal.
“The President offered finger pointing and spin,” Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) said. “The U.S. border with Mexico is far from secure. No campaign speech can change that fact.”
Although the President outlined steps his administration has taken to secure the border, including a major uptick in personnel and deploying ariel surveillance, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) criticized the President for failing to meet with Americans who live along the border.
“In just a few minutes … you can learn about a lifetime of fear and violence,” Pearce said. “Their stories tell that the border is far from safe.”