Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), whose district includes 180 miles of the southern border, said Democrats are ready to commit to immigration enforcement as part of an agreement to provide a pathway to citizenship.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” moderator Chris Stirewalt noted that Democrats ceded the upper hand on the issue due to the surge in immigration after COVID and the way it was handled.
“Are Democrats ready to embrace the enforcement side? Do you hear, when you talk to your fellow Democrats, there is a willingness and readiness to accept the enforcement side of the equation?” Stirewalt asked.
“Democrats are ready,” Vasquez said, acknowledging the “complexities on both sides.”
“So yes, border security has to be the foundation of our plan moving forward, but you also can’t do that without immigration reform and without consideration for the American economy,” he continued. “The truth is, we need all of those things to work together in order for us to give the American people what they want, which is a fair and humane process, a secure border.”
Vasquez noted the agricultural industry, especially in the West, “has involved immigrant labor for many, many decades,” and he warned of the consequences on the U.S. economy of proceeding with mass deportations.
“As we see these mass deportation rates, which are very draconian, and we know that the housekeepers and the restaurant workers and the construction workers who may not be here with the right documentation. Well, let’s give them the right documentation,” he said.
“Let’s vet them. Let’s put them through a process which allows our economy to have the global competitiveness that we need, and at the same time, make sure that we have our border in order, which we can do,” he continued.
