Beto O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman and 2020 presidential candidate, said Tuesday in response to a question about his border plan, that illegal immigrants are already “arresting themselves.”
“Yes, we are a nation of laws. That border must be respected,” O’Rourke responded on “The View” in response to a question from host Meghan McCain about whether our country has borders.
“What I know from talking to and listening to border patrol agents is that those families, those kids, a 3-year-old child showed up in a cornfield outside of Brownsville, Texas with a phone number and permanent marker on his shoe. They’re turning themselves in, they’re arresting themselves. They’re not fleeing detection. They just want to come to a country and follow our own asylum laws,” O’Rourke added.
O’Rourke’s response that illegal immigrants would just arrest themselves was preceded by him making promises to end the current administration’s stance toward illegal immigration.
“First of all, we’re not going to put kids in cages. We’re not going to deport their moms back to the very countries from which they fled,” O’Rourke responded.
“No one cares more about border security than those of us who live there. But when we think about those who made that 2,000-mile journey, fleeing the deadliest countries on the face of the planet, doing what we would all do faced with the same decision, no wall, no militarization, no cages, no cruelty is going to address that,” O’Rouke added.
Top immigration officials have warned there is a “crisis” on the border with record numbers of illegal immigrants coming into the country. A poll released last month showed that the number of Democrats concerned about the border has more than tripled from earlier in the year.
O’Rourke also said in his appearance on “The View” that he regrets rolling out the launch of his presidential campaign on the cover of Vanity Fair.
The candidate caught flak for saying in the interview that he was “born to be in” the presidential race. He said Tuesday that his past comments “reinforces that perception of privilege.”
O’Rourke’s profile has fallen in recent months, with support dropping by about 50% as more Democrats have entered the 2020 race. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows O’Rourke’s support at 4.2% after a 9.5% high in early April and in sixth place behind Joe Biden, Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders, Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts, Sen. Kamala Harris, California, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
