Friday evening, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) declared that America’s lax border security and President Barack Obama’s lawlessness on illegal immigration have lured illegal immigrants from at least 144 nations to enter America this year.
“Third world countries protect their borders better than the United States,” Poe said on the House floor during a debate on a measure to prevent Obama from enacting any more temporary amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Poe reiterated that a lot of the juveniles crossing the border “aren’t just children,” saying “a lot of them are teenagers. A lot of them are older.” A Pew Research report concluded that nearly 90% of illegal immigrants who have been apprehended in the last two years have been teenagers.
He said that during a recent trip to the border law enforcement officials told him “there were 144 nations that came across the border this year, represented,” including “three Ukrainians.”
“Why is everybody coming to America through South Texas?” he asked before saying that whether the illegal immigrants are Central American, terrorists, or Ukrainian, they believe once they get to America, “we’re going to let you stay.”
Poe said illegal immigrants believe once they are in the country then “Americans will take care of their needs.” Ultimately, Poe said Americans and legal immigrants are getting treated unfairly; meanwhile migrants are dying while cartels and smugglers profit “off the fact that the rule of law in this country is not enforced when it comes to the sovereignty and security of the nation.”
“Let’s have the rules and follow those,” he said. “Let them know there is a right way to come [to the United States].”