David Gregory Reminds Rep. Labrador It's Bush-Era Law Preventing Deportations Of Central Americans
When Rep. Raul Labrador attempted to lay all of the blame on the current crisis with minors flooding in from Central America, he was reminded that it was a Bush-era law that is allowing them to stay here.
Meet the Press host David Gregory came close to committing something that resembled journalism for once this Sunday when he reminded Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) that Congress and the former administration bear some responsibility for the crisis on the border we're seeing now when he attempted to lay all of the blame at the feet of the Obama administration.
Labrador wants those families deported right now, regardless of how "harsh" it sounds. When Gregory reminded him that it was not only downright un-American but also illegal to just ship all of them out of the country without going through the process to see if they qualify for refugee status, Labrador said he's like to see that law overturned.
Somehow, I don't think talk like this is going to help them with their phony attempts to reach out to Hispanic and Latino voters.
LABRADOR: If you look at what he said, he said that the number one reason these children are coming to the United States is because of the violence in these Central American countries. The reality is that the violence has existed in these Central American countries for a long time. The level of poverty has existed in these Central American countries for a long 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. […]
The thing that the administration needs to do is immediately deport these families, these children. I know it sounds harsh. I know it sounds difficult, but they're creating a crisis at this time that is actually going to harm these children. […]
GREGORY: But for those who are hearing you and saying but you do sound harsh, that as a practical matter deporting these individuals, many of them children to get back to Central America may not be realistic, nor is it in keeping with what it means to be America and for a lot of American families who think if they're fleeing something so awful, we've got to find a way to deal with this in a more humanitarian way, just as we have 11 million or so immigrants who are here now who have to be dealt with in a way other than just deporting them.
LABRADOR: You know, Americans are great people. I think they're willing to deal with the 11 million people if we feel that there's going to be border security. But right now the frustration you see at Murrieta and other, the frustration you see all throughout the United States is that they feel this administration is doing nothing about border security. […]
GREGORY: First of all, the frustration is not just with the administration, right? It is Congress, it is House Republicans who blocked immigration reform, that came over from the Senate, that you opposed.
But it is also the issue of the law that is the law of the land, that was passed under the previous president, that makes it illegal to treat those illegal migrants coming from Central America as opposed to Mexico.
They have to be brought in and detained and put through these proceedings. That is the law that Congress passed.
LABRADOR: That's a good point. In 2008 that law was passed, and I think we need to change that law. We shouldn't be treating the children from Central America any different than we treat the children from Mexico and Canada. And I think that is something that I will join the administration in doing. I don't think we should be doing that.
But I think you need to realize that in 2008 the law was changed and in 2009, there wasn't a huge major change in the number of children that came to the United States. In 2010 there wasn't a huge change. In 2011 there wasn't a huge change either. And as soon as the administration decided in 2012 to do DACA, which is the Deferred Action Program, that's when the number of children started moving up, and that's because these criminal cartels in Central and South America decided to start advertising that there was a free pass.
I agree with Sec. Johnson that these children should not be allowed to stay, but even in his statement today, he wouldn't even answer your question whether we were going to deport these children or not.
The best safest message 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 children back in a humanitarian way. We can do it safely. We can do it efficiently.
Ship them back to those dangerous hell holes, but do it "humanely." Uh huh.
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