Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to re-prioritize climate change may put immigration reform “back to square one” but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say that’s just where Congress needs to be — securing the border before dealing with millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.
A bipartisan group of House members was sending a letter to President Obama on Wednesday asking him to deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.’s southern border to assist Border Patrol agents. They note that Obama can act without requiring Congress to pass legislation.
“I support immigration reform but that means that you secure the border first,” Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., said Wednesday.
“We protect the borders of other nations better than our own,” added Ted Poe R-Texas.
Giffords, who represents the district that borders Mexico and is south and east of Tucson, said she spoke with a Border Patrol agent who described night time activity down there as “western. It gets violent and dangerous.”