On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston responded to a question on whether increasing work permits for migrants without enhanced border security will incentivize more people to come by stating that the right border policy is “above my pay grade.” And “we’re open to what the Congress decides they want the admissions policy to be. That’s not our decision.”
Co-host Dana Perino asked, “If you do the work permits without actually securing the border, won’t that just incentivize more people to leave their home countries, to try to make that dangerous trip across the border and come here illegally?”
Johnston responded, “I think that’s why we’re calling on Congress to take action on what they think the right border admission policy is. That’s above my pay grade. But whether they decide to have 10,000 people enter a day or 5,000 enter a day, the key for us is, when they arrive in our cities, they just need to be able to work. I think there’s nothing more un-American than having someone arrive in your city and beg me every day for the chance to work and us to say, no, no, we won’t let you work, we instead want you to stay here and be supported by taxpayer dollars for not working. These are folks that are hard-working, they’re industrious, they have skills, they want jobs. And I get calls from CEOs every day saying — conservative CEOs — who are saying, I have open jobs, why can’t I hire these folks? Let’s put them to work. And I agree with that sentiment.”
Co-host Bill Hemmer then asked, “But why not start at the source? Why not push for a policy change at the border so you can deal with this long before it comes to your city?”
Johnston answered, “Yeah, again, we’re open to what the Congress decides they want the admissions policy to be. That’s not our decision.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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