Speaker Johnson: We ‘Need Work Visas,’ We ‘Need to Encourage Legal Immigration’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that America needed “work visas” and to “encourage legal immigration.”

Partial transcript as follows:

JAKE TAPPER: Do you think that the American people are ready if all, whatever it is, 20 million undocumented immigrants are deported, do you think the American people are ready for not only the tremendous disruption in the work force and the economy — I think it’s like 5 percent of the work force is undocumented — but also the fact that we’re going to be seeing images of families separated, people taken out of the communities they have lived in for years? Do you think the American people are fully prepared for that?

JOHNSON: I’m not sure that’s what’s going to happen, Jake. I think what the president’s talking about is beginning with the dangerous persons that we know are here. There are criminals, known criminals. There are known terrorists in the country. There are some who have been apprehended, apprehended for committing violent crimes after they have come across the border illegally. So, you start with that number, you have got, by some counts, as many as three or four million people that fit that category. Begin there and then see how it transpires. This will take a lot of thoughtful work and deliberation. And I think the president is of exactly the right mind.

And, look, the American people want us to restore order and immigration. For four years, we have had a wide-open border. The Biden administration did that intentionally. It’s the reason that we had to take the extreme measure of impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of DHS.

And it’s the reason, I think, one of the primary reasons, that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden himself, when he was running, had no chance of being reelected, because everywhere I went around the country, Jake — and I went to over 360 campaign events in 260 cities and 40 states over the last year — the number one issue everywhere I went was cost of living and border. They went back and forth. And that was what’s on the hearts of the American people, and that’s why President Trump is committed to deliver on it.

TAPPER: Now, I take your point when it comes to securing the border and getting rid of criminals that are undocumented immigrants, but the promise wasn’t just to get rid of criminals. It was to get rid of all of the undocumented immigrants. And one of the reasons why their presence in cities is controversial and why Democrats lost ground in the election in places like New York is because of the degree to which these migrants were sapping resources. I can’t think of a better term for it. But, like, they were — caring for them was costing a lot of money and money that cities didn’t have. So, the promise is really to get rid of all of them. I’m not saying my position it one way or the other, but it’s more than just the criminals were talking.

JOHNSON: Well, look, I’m not sure what the specific promise is. I know the president said that he wanted to engage in the largest mass deportation effort probably in history, because that is what is called for. I mean, you admitted yourself there may be as many as 20 million undocumented persons, illegal aliens, in the country. So this is a concern of communities all across America, not just the big cities, but rural areas as well, because they have been sent all over the nation.

We need to send a message to people around the world that the open door is now being closed and that we are going to restore law and order. And I think that’s what the American people are very hopeful and expecting that we will deliver upon. And we will. And President Trump’s committed to it. He’s the leader to do it.

TAPPER: So, when you talk about rural communities, a lot of migrants in rural communities are doing work that Americans don’t want to do. And there is a lot of concern that deporting all of these undocumented immigrants will actually have a deleterious effect on the economy.

Is that going to be taken into an account? Will there be a way for individuals who are here, but here peaceably, here as part of the economy, here paying taxes and the rest, is there going to be a way for them to find some sort of legal status? I’m not talking about a path to citizenship, but a legal status so there isn’t this tremendous disruption of the economy, to say nothing of the people who have kids in school and the like?

JOHNSON: I won’t get ahead of the president, the administration on what the specifics of the policies will be, but I can tell you that there is a real appetite in Congress to solve this problem. We do need work visas. We need to encourage legal immigration and these work programs that have been very effective. But we need everybody in this country to follow our laws. I don’t think that’s asking for much. And I think that’s what the people want us to get back to.

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