I Visited a Migrant Processing Facility. This Is What I Saw.
"I think, first and foremost, the people of ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] are doing phenomenal work and they’ve done phenomenal work in the midst of a massive crisis that overwhelmed the border with limited resources."
I think if I had visited prior to that, there’d have been a lot of frustration, but the morale seems to be significantly higher after those two things. The decreased flow from the tariff threats and the $4.6 billion in resources that were approved by Congress. They were in good spirits. They were encouraged and clearly they love the country.
del Guidice: So you come from Tennessee, the 7th Congressional District, and while you don’t represent a border state, are there ways that you’ve seen your state has even been impacted by illegal immigration even though you’re not right at the border?
Green: Well, sure. We see a lot of job displacement. We see … wages are decreased and undercut because of the employment of illegals. You know, Tennessee has some pretty strong laws. If you have more than 25 employees, you have to be E-Verify, which I think is a good thing.
And then we also have sanctuary city laws. In fact, I myself wrote one and got it passed that if a city becomes a sanctuary city, that city will lose its state economic development funds. That was my sort of anti-sanctuary city bill and it is now law in Tennessee.
So, while we have some pretty strong laws in place, there’s still individuals that are hiring people that they are, you know, it’s illegal to hire, and I think that is undercutting wages and displacing Americans from jobs.
del Guidice: Final question: If you could leave your Democratic colleagues, and even Americans around the country, with one reflection or remark about what you saw this past week about the crisis at the border, what would that be?
Green: That we’re a great country and we are doing great things to take care of the individuals who are flocking to our country, and the [Customs and Border Protection] and the ICE people are people of heart, and they care, and they’re doing everything within their power to manage the crisis.
We just need to make sure that Congress fixes the laws and gives those men and women the resources they need to do their jobs.
del Guidice: Well, Congressman Green, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s always a pleasure to have you on The Daily Signal Podcast.
Green: Thanks. Thanks for having me, Rachel. Have a good day.
This first appeared in The Daily Signal here.