(National Sentinel) Choice: Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway asked precisely the right question today following a contentious meeting in the Oval Office between POTUS Donald Trump, House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer regarding the president’s border wall.
What do Democrats want, “open government or open borders?”
Early in the meeting, which took place with reporters in the room broadcasting much of it, the president said that he’d be more than willing to let the government shut down at the end of this month as a means of holding out for $5 billion in border wall funding he’s demanding.
Democrats, however, are balking, claiming they want “border security” but doing little to actually offer any real solutions that would secure our border — like a new wall which, as Conway pointed out, is working in places where new wall sections have been built.
“Do they want to keep the government open or the borders open?” Conway said during an interview on Fox News, referring to Democrats.
Current government funding runs out Dec. 21.
“Look, the House bill with the $5 billion is more in line with what the president has asked for,” Conway said. “It’s not just a wall. It’s not just a physical wall. It’s a wall plus.
“We know in El Paso, El Centro, Yuma, for example. San Diego certainly. When walls were built, you did see a decrease in the number of illegal aliens coming over across those walls,” she added.
Watch:
WATCH: @BillHemmer spoke with @KellyannePolls on border wall funding to avoid a government shutdown, the President meeting with @NancyPelosi and @SenSchumer #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/d4fUuHLEhs
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) December 11, 2018
In 2006, NPR reported that the Border Patrol said its agents were overwhelmed by illegal alien crossings before border fencing was installed.
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“It was an area that was out of control,” Border Patrol agent Jim Henry told NPR. “There were over 100,000 aliens crossing through this area a year.”
After double- and sometimes triple-layer fencing was installed, illegal crossings dropped from 100,000 to 5,000 a year, a much more manageable number.
Conway said the border wall is a “huge priority” for POTUS not just as a means of stopping illegal immigration, but also as a way to staunch the flow of illegal drugs coming into the country.
“It is literally poisoning and killing 72,000 Americans a year, and so much of that flows through the southern border,” she said. “It is not just about the people but the poison coming into our communities.”
“Under this president’s leadership, the apprehensions of gang members, the seizures of fentanyl and other deadly drugs are way up. His methods are working.”
As for any promised fallout from shutting the government down, as Pelosi and Schumer indicated, POTUS countered by claiming he’s “proud” to let happen over border security.
“I am proud to shut down the government for border security,” he said, adding, “because the people of this country don’t want criminals, people that have lots of problems and drugs pouring into our country. And so … I will take the mantle of shutting down the government. I’m going to shut it down for border security.”
Trump: “I am proud to shut down the government for border security … I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it” pic.twitter.com/o4xmLRMOTH
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 11, 2018
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