Gohmert: US Must Secure Border Before Considering Amnesty

Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert made a strong appeal to defund President Obama’s “unconstitutional amnesty.”

Speaking to a crowd on Wednesday, Gohmert said the the U.S. must learn from history. “History has happened, and we either learn from it or repeat it,” Gohmert said. “But we’re repeating it. In 1986, one of our greatest presidents — I think the greatest of the 20th century — got duped. Why? Because he believed the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate who told him, ‘If you’ll just sign this amnesty then we’ll make sure the borders secured. We’ll give you the money we’ll take care of it.’ Well he did his part and gave the amnesty, and the Congress did not give him the money to secure the border.”

The Texas Congressman went on to say that before amnesty can be considered, the border must be secured. 

He mentioned building a physical wall along the U.S.-Mexico border as a deterrent. “If the president wants to be consistent then he either needs to build a wall where a wall is capable of being built on our border, or he needs to [be told], ‘Tear down your fence.’ Either it works or it doesnt work. If [a wall] works in the White House — and I have to admit it doesn’t work all that well — but we’re finding out it’s somewhat of a deterrent.”

Gohmert continued, “Well if it’s somewhat of a deterrent just down the street, it should be on our border.”

If the U.S. allows Obama’s “unconstitutional amnesty” to take place, Gohmert said, then there is “a prominent, looming question that must be answered: how long do you think we should go before we do the next amnesty? There are so many of us conservatives that have said, ‘Secure the border and you’ll be amazed what we’ll be willing to negotiate.’ But until you secure the border there’s no sense in doing an amnesty because the quesiton becomes, ‘How long until we should do the next one? And the next one? And the next one?'”

The U.S. will have a bleak future if it goes down that path, the Texan Congressman argued. “And then this country, which was such a bright light on the hill for so many, is no longer capable of being a thriving economy. It can’t.”

“As a government,” Gohmert concluded, “whether you’re Christian or non-Christian, as a government, the highest form of Christianity you can practice is to be impartial….People have prayed for over 200 years that we would have an impartial government. Don’t show favoritism. So who’s going to pay back all of those who paid tremendous amounts of money to do it legally and the right way? It’s so grossly unfair to them. We have a commitment, we have an oath to keep.”

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