Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the front running Republican for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee, told Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 on Sunday evening that she believes building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico is “imperative.”
Blackburn’s comments come while congressional leaders and President Donald Trump engage in negotiations over some kind of legislative replacement for the soon-to-be-phased-out Barack Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive amnesty for illegal alien youths.
“It is something that is not just important, I would say it is imperative,” Blackburn said when asked about the wall. “When you look at how we go about this, it is really pretty simple. The president has laid out his requirements. The Democrats want to address the issue with Dreamers. The president has said we have to have a border wall, and we have to have funding for that wall, we have to end chain migration, and we have to end this ridiculous visa lottery system which continues to cause problems. So, he has put those issues on the table and he has invited the Democrats to the table. It is up to them, but I hope they accept his invitation and get to the table so we can stress these issues.”
Blackburn said Democrats who are unwilling to negotiate with President Trump on the wall, ending chain migration, and ending the visa lottery are being “disrespectful” of their constituents ahead of the midterm elections.
“I think it is disrespectful of their constituents and the American people if they do not come to the table and accept the offer to sit down and try to work this out,” Blackburn said. “The president has said these are the things I’m putting on the table that I want and invited them to come and work with him on it. They owe it to their constituents to do this—they owe it to the Dreamers to do this. They say they’re concerned about the Dreamers, so if they are they should say ‘thank you Mr. President,’ and ‘we’re going to come work with you, we know we’re not going to agree on every point but let’s see where we can find some agreement.’ For us [Republicans], it is we want to secure the border, end chain migration, and end this visa lottery. So let’s see what they’re willing to discuss.”
Listen to the full interview with Rep. Blackburn: