Congressman Requested Capitol Police Check IDs at SOTU, Arrest Anyone in US Illegally
Illegal immigration was a major topic during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Tuesday, especially after Democratic lawmakers announced that they would be bringing DREAMers with them to the event. Congressman Paul Gosar took issue with this stunt and posed the idea of checking ID’s for all members attending the address and arresting those who couldn’t provide identification.
Gosar, a representative from Arizona’s Fourth Congressional District, is a hardliner when it comes to immigration, according to CNN.
He reportedly asked that Capitol Police arrest anyone “using fraudulent social security numbers and identification to pass through security.”
“Of all the places where the Rule of Law needs to be enforced, it should be in the hallowed halls of Congress. Any illegal aliens attempting to go through security, under any pretext of invitation or otherwise, should be arrested and deported,” Gosar reportedly said.
Some Democratic lawmakers in attendance brought undocumented immigrants with them in an apparent attempt to grandstand amid the immigration debate being waged at the Capitol.
While Gosar’s proposal may have been an attempt to stifle the strategic plans of congressional Democrats, many of the illegal immigrants brought to the event are protected under, ironically enough, DACA.
Gosar’s statements drew backlash from fellow Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who tweeted “This is why we can’t have nice things…” in response to Gosar, CNN reported.
The Arizona representative responded to Flake’s remarks with a jab of his own.
“This is why you got forced out of office,” Gosar wrote in response.
He was referencing Flake’s 2017 announcement that he would be retiring from the political sphere after a political career that has spanned over two decades.
The president remarked during his inaugural State of the Union address that “Americans are dreamers too,” while asking for an “immigration compromise,” Fox News Insider reported.
Trump asked lawmakers to come to meet in the middle on immigration reform, as well as provide a path to legal U.S. citizenship for up to 1.8 million DACA recipients who “show good moral character.”
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