Representative Mo Brooks (R., Ala.) was unmoved by a humanitarian appeal to open America’s southern border to a caravan of Central American asylum seekers Friday.
“There are literally billions of people who could make that same kind of argument,” Brooks said on CNN’s New Day Friday morning when asked if the would-be immigrants should qualify for asylum in the U.S.
Brooks cited fiscal concerns in defending his position, pointing out that a number of federal agencies have warned of impending insolvency should the federal government continue to spend at current levels.
“We cannot afford to be the planet’s orphanage”: Rep. Mo Brooks reacts to the caravan of migrants seeking entrance to the United States https://t.co/QSmlr4uW4i pic.twitter.com/gsRCaNcwul
— New Day (@NewDay) April 6, 2018
“We cannot afford to be the planet’s orphanage,” Brooks said. “The place where everybody comes and lives off the hard work of Americans and lawful immigrants who are already here.”
The caravan of asylum seekers has received intense media coverage in the last week and attracted the attention of President Donald Trump, who called on Mexico to stop the group before it reached the U.S. border.
Trump said Thursday he would dispatch 2,000 to 4,000 National Guardsmen to the southern border to bolster immigration-enforcement efforts.
The group that organized the caravan said the majority of immigrants will receive visas to remain in Mexico, while roughly 200 will continue toward the U.S, according to multiple reports.
Current U.S. immigration policy dictates that a family arriving at the border from a non-contiguous country be allowed to remain in the U.S. until its legal status can be determined.