The Daily Signal - Big Problems With Biden's Border and Immigration Policies

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Unchecked illegal immigration leads to the loss of property, life, and resources, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., says. Gosar joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the Biden administration's troubling border and immigration policies. Gosar also talks about the dangers of cancel culture and his opposition to the agenda of the progressive left. We also cover these stories: Twelve state attorneys general sue the Biden administration over the president's executive order on climate change. President Biden remains opposed to ending the Senate filibuster, White House press secretary Jen Psaki says. The Supreme Court announces an important decision for religious liberty.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Tuesday, March 9th. I'm Kate Tranko. And I'm Virginia Allen. On today's show, we share Rachel Del Judis's recent conversation with Representative Paul Goser of Arizona. They spoke at the conservative political action conference in Florida about cancel culture and President Biden's agenda. And don't forget, if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now on to our top news. 12 state attorneys general have filed a joint lawsuit against the Biden administration over a climate executive order that they argue will have negative economic impacts on America and unlawfully

expand federal power. Biden's executive order, known as protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis, will harm the agriculture and manufacturing industry in Missouri, Attorney General Eric Schmidt said. Smith, who is leading the lawsuit, said in a statement that under President Biden's executive order, which he did not have the authority to enact, these hardworking Missourians who have lived and worked this land for generations could be left in the dust. Attorneys general from Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah have also signed onto the legal action to stop Biden's climate executive.

order. President Joe Biden is still against ending the filibuster, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Saki. Saki said Monday, per the Hill. His preference is not to make changes to the filibuster rules, and he believes that with the current structure, that he can work with Democrats and Republicans to get work and business done. Ending the filibuster would mean that Democrats could pass legislation with a mere 50 votes if Vice President Kamala Harris was the tiebreaker. The Supreme Court announced an important decision for religious liberty on Monday. The High Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of Chiquet Usoboum and his right to proselytize on his college campus. Usabuam was told by Georgia Gwinnett College officials that he could not hand out religious literature

or proselytize on campus, even though he acquired the proper permits from his university to do so. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the court's decision writing, It is undisputed that Usabum experienced a completed violation of his constitutional rights when respondents enforced their speech policies against him. Chief Justice John Roberts was the one dissenting vote because he believes the case to no longer have standing because Usabuum has since graduated from the university and the college has changed its policy to allow for proselytizing. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that for those who are vaccinated, fewer precautions are in order.

For instance, if you're vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, you can be indoors with other people who have been vaccinated and no one needs to wear a mask. They also say you can gather with one other household that isn't vaccinated and still not wear masks. And if you've been near someone who now has COVID-19, you don't have to quarantine unless you get symptoms, in which case you should be tested. But the CDC is still pushing for those who are vaccinated to live with significant restrictions, including avoiding air travel if possible and wearing masks and staying six feet apart if with two or more households of unvaccinated

people. The CDC also suggests people should avoid any large or medium-sized gatherings after vaccination. Two of the vaccines currently being used in the U.S. were 94 and 95 percent effective, respectively in trials. Now stay tuned for Rachel's conversation with Representative Paul Goser at CPAC. Never has it been more important for us to fight for America. Each day we see the penalties of progressive policies across our nation. Our elections are under assault. Our economic freedom is on the decline, and our culture is turning its back on the founding principles that have made us the freest, most prosperous nation in history. That's why the Heritage Foundation developed a plan to take on the left and take back our country. The Citizens Guide to Fight for America provides a

series of heritage recommended action items delivered on a regular basis to your inbox. Make an impact in your community and in our country. Sign up for the Citizens Guide at Heritage.com. org slash citizens guide and join in the fight for America today. I'm joined today on the Daily Signal podcast by Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona. Congressman Gosar, it's great to have you on the Daily Signal podcast. Great having me. All right. Well, you recently sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security.

We're using some concerns over the Biden administration's actions to limit enforcement and weaken border security. Can you tell us about the letter and why you sent it? Yeah, so being a border state in Arizona and being one of the big, impugned states by illegal immigration. The lack of enforcement from our border security perspective, tearing down the Trump program of keeping folks in Mexico while their case is processed, now reinstituting catch and release,

where now 99% plus of the people that are cited then turn loose, do not show up for a court date. So now we're seeing it overwhelming our district. In Yuma County, they're releasing over 50 individuals of a day. And so that puts a strain on the resources, both at the county and the state level, which they are really trying to do their due diligence. But it also puts a restraint on the health and human services aspect because you're still in a pandemic, and you don't know what these people come with,

and the resources are tight. Well, as you mentioned, on the day of President Biden, his inauguration, he ended construction of the border wall. And I'm curious, have you seen a change in, you know, people coming in how that's affected since President Biden ended that construction? Have you seen even a difference? It's been a short amount of time, but since that, have you seen any difference there? Well, wait, we've seen a whole different attitude in those coming into the country illegally. There's big caravans on the move already. We've seen an uptick in the number of people coming across the border.

So the signal was given, and now we're seeing that advanced problem again. And as the weather starts to warm up, we'll see more and more coming across the border illegally. And then the humanitarian crisis that we've exacerbated, the rape, the human trafficking, the smuggling of drugs. I mean, and during this COVID pandemic, we've seen increases in drug overdoses and domestic violence. Well, speaking of the drugs, I want to talk a little bit about that some more. How will the drug cartels in specific be affected by this ending in construction? How will things look for them? How will they're tracking?

How will it look for them coming into the country? And what will that change? What will make it easier? What will happen with these cartels? Well, the fact that you didn't complete a mission. And even back in the day, I'm sure that President Biden actually voted for border security. Very few people voted against it. So when you're incomplete, what you're sending is a subliminal message to people from the other side, from the cartels, from those that want to come into this country for the wrong reasons.

That it's okay to violate the law, to violate a contract. And that starts the whole negative precipitation. If you're not going to honor the rules of law coming into the country, how after are you to follow them? It builds a culture of problems. Well, another agenda for the Biden administration that you've talked about being concerned over is their plan to give amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants as mainstream media reports. Why is this a problem, Congressman Gosar? Well, first, it's a problem in regards to the number is inaccurate. I'm tired of people lying to the general public, and the American public understands that as well.

That number is more like 33 million, or even more, because you have these old. Overstage, you have so many people here. And it's an insult to the people that came here legally, and I hear about it all the time, saying, listen, how is it that we're going to allow people to facilitate to go on a path of citizenship? When I stood in line and did it the right way, they chose to ignore the rule of law and did it on their free will. It really causes a problem, particularly in a country of laws. It just continues that cancer of anti-law activity. Living in Arizona, and I'm sure talking to constituents a lot, are there any personal stories or situations you've heard of of how illegal immigration affects your constituents?

And I think, you know, at Daily Signal, we really try to tell personal stories that, you know, illustrate to the general public why policy issues are important. And so are there any stories you can share or things you've heard of with your constituents, why and how illegal immigration affects them? We can go back to my first days in Congress with the Krenz family, where when their father was actually murdered by cartel members, seeing desecration of their ranches, the theft and looting of their personal properties, threats that they have. Then also, when they take advantage of innocent people that are stranded, these individuals are compelled to comply and help out people that have been stranded with no water, who have been stranded. maybe raped, who have been desecrated, and basically life-saving issues. So it hits over and over and over again. The loss of property, the loss of life, the loss of resources that could go to other aspects were stretched in with our law enforcement. So it hits over and over and over again. Well, speaking of walls, and ironically enough, when it comes to Democrats and their perspective

of walls, we've seen a wall go up around the Capitol. which is keeping taxpayers out right now of visiting the members that they sent to Congress, but the wall at the southern border that was being built to keep out drug cartels and illegals. That's, you know, construction has been stopped as we talked about. So do you see any sort of double standard here at all? Absolutely. So, you know, we can ask Nancy Pelosi how that really works. She's in charge of security on the Capitol grounds.

and we're now being made aware that during the sixth uprising from some folks, it was mainly a peaceful exhibition. But she and her oversight and failed to put the proper resources that had been asked by Capitol Police. And now they're relying on a 12-foot wall. It wasn't good enough for regular. Now we've gone to 12-foot wall with some razor wire. So really it looks more like the Soviet Union than it does the Capitol. that we the people could actually just walk in. That was one of the best charges.

You know, so it's funny that the walls work when they want them to work, but they're not adequate or they're racist when they don't condone it. Well, I think you were among about 41 House Republicans that went to Speaker Pelosi to ask her to take down this wall. Has there been any movement on that? Like, what's the update there? Have you heard anything from her? No, and she's one of those people that she'll do it on her.

time and her time only. And so I don't expect that we'll actually hear something from her for quite some time. Well, we've talked a lot about immigration and the different, you know, pieces of the Biden agenda there. What other items of the Biden administration and agenda are most concerning to you? Well, this, this reprehence of cancel culture, the embracing of wiping away, intimidation, threatening when we don't agree with somebody in that public sphere, in that public workplace, that public square of the First Amendment. We're not seeing that attack. And more than anything we've seen now that a group of people, a group of platforms, have been given special immunity where they are deciding, as associates from the Democratic Party,

what is good speech, what is bad speech, what is tolerable, what is censor. and if they're really a principled lot to the Constitution, then it's high time that we rein these folks in and make sure that what we do is we have that public sphere where we have the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the freedom to petition our government. I find that you can't solve anything unless you have that debate, and this crimps that debate.

It puts a heavy air force against that aspect of free speech. Well, recently, House Democrats passed the Equality Act, and there's a bunch of different pieces to this legislation, but one of the things that it will do is allow biological men into women's restrooms, and it will allow biological boys who are identifying with girls into locker rooms to disrobe in the same room with biological girls. And so, first of all, what all will this piece of legislation do, and is it concerning to you? It's very concerning to me, because I thought there was a move, a full of it. but allowed women to excel with women. When you talk about sports, there's no comparison for the average woman versus the average man. And so that's shameful when you see that. And I'm appalled that I don't see more of the women first coming forward

and acknowledging that there's a problem here. You know, that gets to the quality of the discussion, not the color of my skin, that was so pointed during the civil rights aspect. And when you start looking at the gender changing for young kids, this is problematic. And I think Rand Paul hit it very head on in regards to, you know, children are still maturing. They're trying to figure out life, you know, and so you're allowing them to take an irreversible process and make that decision there, particularly when the facts and the protocols show that it's mitigated, you know, in a natural way as they grow older.

Very sad, very, very sad. And that's not what the intent was of the equal rights in 1964. It wasn't the intent there. And I find that instead of being inclusionary, we're dictating everything to a small group. And that's really sad. Is there any way that conservatives can combat this? I mean, we do have, you know, the Democrats are running everything right now, but what would you tell your colleagues when it comes to how a type of this legislation could be combated in some way?

Well, I think that we should have had a strategy in place, that we should be, because of the cant of where the Democrats have gone to the real socialistic side, there's a number of the more moderate, the more centralist Democrats that don't like the direction. I mean, we heard Ms. Panberger from Virginia sound off after the election. and with their narrow majority and soon to be shorter majority, particularly when you have the five members that are going to in the administration, there's an opportunity here to actually put a lot of force. I mean, last night, two Democrats voted against the COVID-19 package. So making sure that they're put on notice. And I think that goes with the same fact as, why aren't we every week that we're in session? Why isn't the minority leader going to the floor and asking for a.

motion to vacate the chair. That's using all the tools in the toolbox in regards to making sure that we save this republic and getting back to business that should be a usual where we actually have regular order, where committees are actually being heard, there's debate, and that we're getting bills that actually solve problems instead of creating more. Well, more big picture, how do you think your conservative colleagues in Congress can combat Biden's agenda despite the fact that the Democrats are running everything now as we talked about. So once again, it's holding people accountable. We should be spending money in these folks' backyard, make sure that they're held accountable. When I won my election in 2010, we won it on the face of Nancy Pelosi. And so why not do that

again? She's toxic. The other thing is, is that we should be out there for what we're for in the agenda items. Like I spend a lot of time in natural resources. So why aren't we engaging with the new and California with wildfires. These are the most polluting events, period, period. And we're not going to intercede on that? There's a great way to be empowered, not become victims. There's that. There's water.

There's critical minerals that is so vital to our technology sector. I mean, to give you an example of one, we've got a rare earth discovery in Arizona that the mineral, when you add it to aluminum, gives you twice the strength for half the weight. that's going to revolutionize aviation. It's going to revolutionize cars because of the less weight with a better strength. It's going to get more efficiency so that pursuit of excellence is going to continue. So we ought to be dictating that to the American people,

making a push so that the American people engage and help us push that agenda forward. Congressman Gossar, you touched on the problem of cancel culture a little bit ago in our conversation. And we've seen how big of a problem this has become on social media, just in general society of people losing jobs for beliefs that they hold that they have spoken out on. And so how would you encourage your colleagues as well as everyday Americans to fight against cancel culture? Well, we have to lead by example. And so to give you an example, I'm from a big family. I've got seven siblings that do not like me.

And they've worked to cancel me and my representation of the people I served back in Arizona. It's kind of backfired. I mean, we've won 70% of the vote now year after year after year. But we have to set an example for everybody else, and we've got to make sure that we're pursuing this in good form. I brought up the platforms. Why do they get away with things that you couldn't get away with or I couldn't get away with?

You've got to be under that same law. And so we need to be putting solutions and then integrating with individuals out there, engaging with the public at large, saying, listen, there is a lot. solution here. Here's why it works. This is why we need it because if we stop that the framing and openness of talking about ideas, that's how we got to being the greatest country ever, was the sharing and debate of ideas. But in the civil sphere. And when you cancel culture,

history books always tell you that if you are doomed to fail and repeat history if you don't acknowledge what your history is all about. And that history is about a learning people that wanted to get things right, that it's an imperfect world, and it's a striving to make sure that we get it better. And there's not one right way. There's not one right culture. It should be all available so that we understand the good, the bad, the ugly. And so when we do it in that fashion, we're less apt to repeat the feathers of the past. Well, Congressman Gossar, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily Signal podcast. It's always great having you with us. Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate it. Always appreciate it.

And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal Podcast. You can find The Daily Signal podcast on Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and IHeartRadio. Please be sure to leave us a review and up five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Thanks again for listening. We'll be back with you all tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. It is executive produced by K.

Kate Trinko and Rachel Del Judas, sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geine, and John Pop. For more information, visit DailySignal.com.