Republican Rep. John Carter at a hearing about US immigration and border agencies in an exchange with fellow Texas Republican Rep”
“Believe me, a lot of the attractive children are not making it to the border,” pic.twitter.com/JOIw5LHXD4— ALT- Immigration 🛂 (@ALT_uscis) April 12, 2018
Erm, a certain U.S. Congressman may want to have rephrased his statement on “attractive” Mexican immigrant children entering the country.
“Believe me, a lot of the attractive children are not making it to the border,” Rep. John Carter (R-Texas 31st District) said Thursday at a congressional hearing about immigration law and policy.
Awkward choice of words aside, the exchange came after Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas 7th District) suggested that asylum laws attracted immigrants to the states, and put their lives at risk as they trekked to the border. Carter is the chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations.
We reached out to his spokesperson for clarification.
“The congressman was referring to the fact that it’s a sad reality that unaccompanied children are subject to kidnapping, sexual violence, physical abuse, human trafficking and even death at the hands of human smugglers and ruthless cartels during their journey to cross over the southern border,” said communications director Emily Taylor in a statement emailed to Law&Crime. “There is currently a loophole in the law that makes it useful for children to cross over the border alone so they can remain in the United States, and without the protection of their parents or other family members during their journey, they are at even more of a risk to be exploited by the coyotes and cartel.”
Carter can safely be described as a hardliner when it comes to immigration. He has voted to fund President Donald Trump‘s proposed border wall. In a statement on his website, he voiced support for a “border fence,” and increased resources to stop undocumented immigration, including unmanned drones, sensors, and surveillance cameras. Even when it comes to his proposed temporary worker program, the emphasis isn’t on establishing a way for documented immigrants to become citizens or even long-term residents.
“This will allow workers to come to the United States to perform jobs that Americans do not want, and then return to their home countries when the job is complete,” a statement read. “This system should have a high threshold of accountability, forbid any immigrants with a criminal history, and require that immigrants return when their position is no longer needed.”
[Screengrab via ATL-Immigration]
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