Cotton: ‘Healthy skepticism warranted’ when dealing with Democrats on immigration

by Regina Zilbermints - 06/23/19 10:07 AM ET

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said on Sunday that he supported President Trump’s plan to deport a large number of migrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Trump on Saturday announced a two-week delay for a plan to deport as many 2,000 migrant families in an effort to give Congress a chance to work on immigration reform. The plan was to involve pre-dawn raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in major U.S. cities.

{mosads}”I think healthy skepticism is warranted when dealing with Democrats on immigration,” Cotton told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

“If we can’t deport people like that, who can we deport?” he asked.” That’s why the Democrat’s position comes down to open borders. If you can’t deport an illegal alien who has a final and legal order of removal adjudicated by an immigration judge, who can you deport?”

As late as Saturday morning, the president was defending the plan, tweeting, “The people that Ice will apprehend have already been ordered to be deported. This means that they have run from the law and run from the courts. These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country. They broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying.”

Tags Chris Wallace Donald Trump Fox News Tom Cotton