GOP rep: America shouldn’t ‘apologize’ for immigration enforcement

A prominent House Republican is standing by his party’s immigration reform efforts and the enforcement of the rule of law.

“A sovereign country should never apologize for having a secure border anymore than this Congress apologizes for having metal detectors at every single entrance point,” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Tuesday during a Judiciary Committee immigration hearing.

{mosads}Gowdy, the chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, accused the Obama administration of “handcuffing” law enforcement officers.

He pointed out that about 40 percent of illegal immigrants originally entered the country lawfully.

However, the Obama administration’s immigration policies discourage law enforcement officers from detaining many of these illegal immigrants, Gowdy said.

“We trust state and local law enforcement officers to enforce every category of law from murder to child sex cases to narcotics trafficking,” Gowdy said.

“So why can’t we give them a role in immigration reform?” he asked.