Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), the former Navy SEAL and newly-elected Member of Congress, believes the Southern border is now a “nexus between immigration and our national security” and a “direct threat” to America’s national security.
“It’s not about Hispanics or South Americans,” he said on Breitbart News Saturday, citing a Breitbart Texas report that found that illegal immigrants from at least 168 countries were apprehended at the Southern border last year. “It’s not about immigration alone. It’s about national security… if children can walk across our southern border without consequences, what makes this administration think that ISIS can’t with weapons of mass destruction?”
He added that “we know that ISIS now has access weapons of mass destruction,” including “chemical weapons” and various “transportation methods.”
Zinke, who was awarded two Bronze Stars, said it is time for America to “think big” on immigration and noted that a country that built the Panama Canal in the 19th century can at least build a fence in the 21st.
Zinke said that President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty is illegal and, “we’re going to challenge it” in the new Congress.
Saying that the immigration problem is “out of control,” Zinke said Republicans had to be the “party of go” on border security. But he also cautioned against throwing money at the problem with ineffective policies.
“We have to have policy that makes sense,” he said