PHOENIX – U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego called for a series of sweeping immigration changes on Wednesday.
“Getting illegal border crossing to near as zero as possible should be a bipartisan position,” Gallego told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show. “I think that’s something that we could all start with right there.”
With border crossings at an all-time low, the Arizona Democrat suggested giving more resources to border patrol and opening up more ports of entry so individuals can enter the country legally.
U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan announced that Border Patrol encounters were down to 7,181 for all of March.
“So let’s give border patrol everything they want for how many men they need for the border,” Gallego said. “(Let’s give them) how many vehicles they need and put walls and barriers where it’s necessary and needed and open up more ports of entry. Make sure that they’re fully staffed, make sure that people can actually check it.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego wants to reform asylum system
Gallego also outlined a plan for how he wants to change the asylum system. He suggested stricter requirements while also hiring as many judges as possible to make decisions in a timelier manner.
“I think I have to work harder to get more of my colleagues to agree that the asylum system needs to be fixed because I think that’s one area that I’m kind of an outlier with Democrats on that, but I think that we could get there,” Gallego said.
Gallego wants asylum seekers to be put in front of a judge as they enter the country instead of having to wait years before a decision is made in some instances.
“There’s just no way anybody could look at what happened in the last four years that we could look at it, and this is for more of a message to the left, the asylum system was abused,” Gallego said.
“Abused to the point where it drove Americans and even immigrants mad that people were able to just come to the border, claim asylum and they’re here and they have a work permit for seven years. And there are people that have been here for years trying to get work permits they still can’t get it, right?”
The Arizona Democrat also wants to open up a flexible guest worker program. He believes the government would need to be responsive in order for the program to be successful and that the work permits would need to be for two-year durations in order to ensure that the respective sectors still have a need for workers.
“I think (it could work), but we also have to make sure that it’s in the sectors that need the workers and not (used) as an excuse to undercut U.S. wages.”
Gallego later said he wants to accept “Dreamers” and give young adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children access to citizenship.
“It’s ridiculous and inhumane and dumb for us to throw people out of this country that are as America as a lot of us except for on paper.”
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