Witnesses invited by Democrats to testify at Wednesday's House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the border crisis said racism is a major driver of legislation and ideas to increase security on the southern border.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway downplayed the overall crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying Santa Cruz County, Arizona, is safe.
There is a border wall in Nogales, Arizona, which is part of Santa Cruz County.
“The majority of people who come to the United States come for work. It is disingenuous to conflate people who come for work with drug dealers and criminals. They come to improve their lives,” Hathaway said in his testimony.
“And some of the policies reek of racism. For example, it was never proposed to build a wall on the Canada-US border. Title 42, the COVID policy, was never actively enforced on the northern border to prevent alien claims. And it's weird that it's become fashionable to talk about walls, tariffs and isolationism. Reagan was no fan of walls. When the Soviets suggested in the late 1980s and early 1990s that they were embracing freedom, Reagan told them to prove it by tearing down the Berlin Wall,” Hathaway continued.
Hathaway's comparison of differing views on the border wall being built along the southwest border was sharply criticized by Republicans on the committee.
Rep. Eli Klain of Arizona asked Hathaway which border crossings had the most illegal immigration.
“Probably the southern border,” Hathaway replied reluctantly.
“Yes, I suppose so,” returned Mr. Crane.
“To the American people, this is not about race. In fact, most Americans support legal immigration. The issue is illegal immigration and it has nothing to do with race,” Klain said.
Crane also got Hathaway to confess to leaving the door of her home closed and unlocked when she went out.
Nogales, Arizona, which is part of Santa Cruz County, has border wall that stretches beyond the port of entry.
Hathaway also said he doesn't know what Tren de Aragua is, even though the Venezuelan gang has a base in the country and is committing high-profile crimes under the Biden-Harris administration.
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