Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), whose district lies along the U.S.-Mexico border, expressed optimism about working with Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for "border czar." Cuellar said he believes there are opportunities to align on specific border enforcement measures despite significant differences in broader immigration policy.
"We can deport people quickly under Title A, we can do 'stay in Mexico,' we can do so many things on policies that can work right away," he told NewsNation's "The Hill."
Cuellar added that he had already initiated contact with Homan, the former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, and plans to meet with him in Washington, D.C., soon. "We might not agree on everything, but certainly we can agree to deport criminals, national security threats, and the 1.3 million individuals with final deportation orders who remain in the U.S.," Cuellar said, as The Hill reports.
Cuellar also gave his take on immigrants with criminal records:
"Some of the recent crossers are some of the folks we need to look at. So, there's a lot of things that I think we can do, and certainly Mexico has done a lot, but they can do much, much, much more stopping fentanyl and stopping people from coming in"
Cuellar also criticized some members of his own party for hesitating to support such measures, as Fox News reports:
"I told some of the Democrats, you can agree on deporting criminals, right? Some of them hesitated. And I told them that would be a mistake if Democrats cannot even agree to deport criminals"
Homan, known for his tough stance on immigration enforcement, visited the border on Tuesday alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to discuss the incoming Trump administration's plans for mass deportations — which the president-elect promised repeatedly while on the campaign trail.
"Let me be clear: There is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border," Homan said.
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