Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Democrat challenger Janelle Stelson debated the key issue of border security Tuesday night in one of the marquee matchups of the 2024 election cycle.
The issue has become a focal point in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, with Perry supporting Donald Trump’s tough border security policies and defending his opposition to a Senate pro-migration border bill that Vice President Kamala Harris has falsely claimed would have passed Congress if not for Donald Trump’s opposition.
Stelson, a longtime Pennsylvania news anchor who lives just outside the district, supports the legislation, which Perry accurately pointed out would “let in 5000 people illegally a day. That is not a solution when millions are coming across the border already.”
In January, leaks of the bill’s contents doomed it within hours, with Senators in both parties ultimately opposing it. Those leaks, which were later proved accurate, noted the compromise bill increased legal immigration levels while expediting work permits for migrants released into the United States.
Most infamously, the bill permitted tens of thousands of migrants to cross the border every week before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could use any type of border controls.
Perry argued the increased migrant crossings permitted by the failed legislation would lead to even more American victims of migrant crime.
“I wonder if my opponent knows the names of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley, or Rachel Marin because they were horrifically raped and murdered by people that came into this country under the same provisions that were provided in that bill,” he said.
The twelve-year-old Nungaray was raped and murdered in Texas allegedly by two Venezuelan migrants and suspected gang members who entered the U.S. illegally and were released by the Biden-Harris administration. Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was allegedly killed in Georgia by an illegal alien, also a Venezuelan, who had been released into the U.S. by the Biden-Harris DHS – whose officials cited a lack of detention space to keep him locked up. Morin, a 37-year-old mother, was raped and murdered in Maryland allegedly by an illegal alien MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, where he had been accused of murdering a woman. The alleged perpetrator had been caught and released into Mexico on multiple occasions.
Perry told the audience “we should be supporting Americans” over often unvetted migrants.
“We can’t afford having these people here,” he said. “We can’t afford our own groceries, let alone their housing, their medical care, and their education.
Stelson criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its handling of the border crisis. “I don’t think they acted fast enough,” she said, adding “we absolutely must secure the border” and attacking Perry for voting against increased border patrol funding and immigration judges to expedite migrant processing.
Perry said throwing more money at the Biden-Harris administration is irresponsible and won’t solve the problem.
“The border was secure under the last president without [more] Border Patrol agents,” Perry said. “He already had it secure, so that’s not the answer. The answer is getting a new president who actually wants to follow the law.”
Stelson did claim illegal aliens should be deported, insisting “we need to find out where they are, and they need to be sent home.”
When asked if she had “any idea how that would actually be done,” Stelson had a one-word answer.
“No,” she responded.
Stelson – who sat wearing a boot throughout the debate after, according to the moderator, injuring her ankle the day before – did not speak to the press after the debate, which will be the only face-off between the candidates.
Cook Political Report says the seat leans Republican, but the party is not taking the seat for granted. Speaker Mike Johnson will be in the district this week to boost Perry, who Johnson recently named to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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