Mike Huckabee kicked off the Iowa State Fair presidential “soapbox” series Thursday with an issue that has been on Republican primary voters’ minds: border security.
“We’ve got to do something about letting our country become an open door where we no longer control our border,” Huckabee said at the Des Moines fairgrounds. “Now if you think its presumptuous on my part to say that we can secure our border in a year, I’m a tell ya that it can be done.”
In his speech, Huckabee compared the construction of a border fence with Mexico to the 1940s construction of the 1,700-mile road between British Colombia and Alaska. The former Arkansas governor claimed that if that highway could be built in less than year with the engineering capabilities of 73 years ago, then building a border fence can easily be done now.
Immigration and border control have become huge issues on the campaign trail since Donald Trump ‘s bombastic comments about Mexican illegal immigrants bringing rape and other crime into the country. Other GOP candidates such as Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz have also claimed they have the best plan to secure the border.
President Obama has promoted comprehensive immigration reform. Failing to win congressional approval, he has used his executive power to stop the deportations of many illegal immigrants, a move that has been controversial and some say unlawful. Democratic primary candidates, such as Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley, have made comprehensive immigration reform key parts of their platforms and have vowed to continue, and even expand on, Obama’s executive actions.
“Of course we can secure the border but we have to have a president that will do [it],” Huckabee added. “And I’ll make sure it gets done and I will be a president that gets it done. That’s a commitment to this country.”
