Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke with Fox News’s Lou Dobbs on Wednesday about how imperative border security is to immigration reform, and suggested a step that other candidates have not addressed: that the U.S. help to secure Mexico’s southern border in order to stymie the flow of Central Americans into the country:
Perry discussed border security, after re-iterating that border security is the most important issue that decides all the other issues pertaining to immigration, giving his plan to secure the border using personnel, strategic fencing, and aviation assets, added, “I think that’s one of the things that’s been missing all along, is the will at the White House, the will from Washington, to clearly send a message. Now, keep in mind, Mexico’s the number one trading partner for a state like Texas, they are a major importance from a trade standpoint. But the other side of it is Mexico has there fair share of foreign aid that flows into that country as well. A real negotiator, a president that is committed to securing the border, will get Mexico’s attention, and I will suggest to you that having 14 years of being a neighbor, and a governor of the 12th largest economy in the world, knows how to do that. We know how to get Mexico’s attention. But most importantly, we’re going to send the message that the border is going to be secure. Boots on the ground, aviation assets, strategic fencing, the border’s going to be secure, and Mexico will salute that, I will suggest to you. They’re not going to have a choice.”
Perry added, “I will suggest to you that we can also be of assistance to them on the southern border with Mexico, because that’s where a lot of these challenges come from. Last summer, it was Central American kids that were coming up here, showing up on our border. It wasn’t Mexican citizens by and large.”
Watch the clip below:
