The witness Democrats invited to testify for Wednesday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the border crisis said that racism is the major driver behind legislation and ideas for better security at the southern border.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway downplayed the overall crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border because his county in Arizona is safe.
Nogales, Arizona, which is part of Santa Cruz County, does have a border wall.
“The vast majority of people coming to the U.S. are coming to work. It is disingenuous to conflate people coming to work with drug dealers or criminals. They come to improve their lives,” Hathaway wrote for his testimony.
“And certain policies smack of racism. For example, a wall was never suggested for the Canadian-U.S. border. Title 42, a COVID policy, was never implemented aggressively at the Northern border to keep foreigners from making claims. And it is odd to me that it has become fashionable to talk of walls, tariffs, and isolationism. Reagan was not a fan of walls. When the Soviet Union suggested that they were embracing freedom in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Reagan told them to prove it by tearing down the Berlin Wall,” Hathaway continued.
Hathaway’s apples-to-oranges comparison about the border wall being constructed along the southwest border was heavily criticized by Republicans on the committee.
Rep. Eli Crane, who is from Arizona, asked Hathaway which border experiences more illegal immigration.
“Probably the southern border,” Hathaway reluctantly answered.
“Yeah, you know it is,” Crane shot back.
“It’s not about race with the American people. Matter of fact, most American people support legal immigration. It’s the illegal immigration, it has nothing to do with race,” Crane also noted.
Crane also got Hathaway to admit that while he keeps his doors closed at home, he leaves the door unlocked.
Nogales, Arizona, which is part of Santa Cruz County, does have a border wall that extends beyond the port of entry.
Hathaway further said he did not know what Tren de Aragua is despite the Venezuelan gang having a foothold within the country and committing high-profile crimes under the Biden-Harris administration.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Politics
