On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) acknowledged that we need immigration detention beds for people who might be threats to the U.S. and that President Joe Biden has requested fewer of those beds in his budget repeatedly, but “Speaker Johnson has said that he won’t take additional resources unless we pass the most extreme, draconian bill that they had.”
Host Erin Burnett asked, “[T]here are things out there that don’t really still make sense, Congressman. Like, for example, does it make sense to you that President Biden has repeatedly asked for fewer immigration detention beds in his annual budget? And some people, they point to these things as the signals that this administration has sent that the border is open.”
Swalwell answered, “Yeah, so, I think anyone who could be a threat to the United States, certainly, you would want them in a detention bed. And in an ideal world, if someone comes here with an asylum claim, you can process that claim as quickly as possible and return them to their country if they don’t meet the standard, but we don’t have the resources right now to do that. And I think that’s what this deal can get us towards.”
Burnett then cut in to say, “But he hasn’t requested the resources in the past, I guess, in part, is what I’m pointing out, with things like the beds as an example.”
Swalwell responded, “Sure. And Speaker Johnson has said that he won’t take additional resources unless we pass the most extreme, draconian bill that they had. Again, I think most Americans live in the great big center on this issue and we’re getting closer to finding it, and I just hope my Republican colleagues realize that we can do big things on a complicated issue if we just come together.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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