Undocumented Immigration News: Republican Idaho Rep. Raúl Labrador Doubts Jeh Johnson Will Stop Unaccompanied Central American Children [Video]
According to Idaho Rep. Raúl Labrador, facts and solutions presented to the U.S. people regarding the thousands of unaccompanied Central American children illegally crossing the U.S. border, namely those shared by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, are faulty.
Labrador appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday following an interview with Johnson. One of the republican Congressman's first statement was that the show's slogan should be changed from "If it's Sunday, it's 'Meet the Press,'" to "If it's Sunday, it's another administration official making stuff up on 'Meet the Press.'"
"[Johnson] said that the number one reason these children are coming to the United States is because of the violence in these Central American countries," Labrador said. "The reality's that the violence has existed in these Central American countries for a long period of time. ... But it's over the last two years that you have seen an increase in the number of children coming to the United States. He's saying that he's going to be able to stem it, and it's not going to reach 90,000. ... That's not going to happen."
According to Labrador, government estimates expect 150,000-200,000 unaccompanied minors to illegally cross the border in 2015. The representative said he finds it hard to believe that the government is doing everything possible to lower those numbers and "do right" by the minors.
Labrador argued that deportation is the best solution to the recent influx.
"I know it sounds difficult, but [the U.S. government is] creating a crisis at this time that is actually going to harm these children," he said.
The representative cited rape as some of the tragedies many Central American children face.
"This is an outrageous thing that is happening to these children, and we need to actually take a strong stance against what's happening and against these illegal cartels," Labrador said.
According to Labrador, Johnson's evasiveness about deportation is not helpful, and the superior approach is directness, featuring deportation that is done "safely" and "efficiently."
"The best, safest message that we can send to Central America, if you want to let Central American families know that they're not going to be able to -- they shouldn't be bringing their children to the United States, is by sending these children back in a humanitarian way," he said.
Watch the full interview below:
Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
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