Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running for a Senate seat, this week called on President Joe Biden to secure the border, despite consistently opposing Trump-era policies to do exactly that.
Gallego urged the Biden administration to issue an emergency declaration for the southern border this week, asserting that he has always said that the southern border requires a “federal response.”
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“As I’ve said all along, the crisis at our southern border requires a federal response, especially after Title 42 was hastily lifted,” Gallego said in a statement.
“An emergency declaration is needed to manage the humanitarian and security needs along Arizona’s border. Our state, especially border communities and local law enforcement, should not be left to respond to this surge alone,” he continued.
“By declaring an emergency, Arizona communities will be rushed the resources they need to address the crisis and will be eligible for financial reimbursement. That is why I’m calling on the President to take this necessary step,” the Democrat added.
It is a bizarre statement from the Senate hopeful, who appears to have forgotten his own role in opposing border security.
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In September 2017, for example, Gallego wrote an op-ed titled “Why we should not build Trump’s border wall (ever),” in which he claims the wall is not about border security but Trump supposedly “playing upon the racial fears and anxiety he has drummed up and amplified to rally his base.”
In that same op-ed, Gallego claimed that Trump was “trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.”
“Border apprehensions have been falling for years, and the border wall will do nothing about the real issue of visa overstays,” he said, deeming a wall a “giant waste of money.”
Further, his statement specifically states that Title 42 was “hastily” lifted. He conveniently failed to mention that he actually signed a letter urging Biden to end the Trump-era policy.
It read in part:
The Biden administration need not and should not leave this to the courts. You have the power to halt these expulsions by repealing the Title 42 order, and you should use it as soon as practicable. Expulsions under Title 42 actually endanger public health, including the health of enforcement officers and migrants.
In 2019, Gallego proudly stated that there was “no ‘national emergency’ coming from the border.”
He also deemed Trump’s immigration policies an “extreme anti-immigrant agenda.”
It remains unclear why the Democrat now suddenly believes it is a legitimate emergency and not anti-immigrant, but his call conveniently comes as he runs for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) seat, which also could put him against pro-Trump Republican candidate Kari Lake, who announced her candidacy for the seat in October.
An October National Research survey found Lake leading Gallego and Sinema in a three-way race, 37 percent to Gallegos 33 percent and Sinema’s 19 percent.
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