WOKV News - Two Local Reps: Obama Contributed to Immigration Crisis

News Article

By Gene Wexler

Ander Crenshaw and Ted Yoho, both Congressmen who represent Northeast Florida, agree that President Obama's failure to enforce pre-existing laws has greatly contributed to the current immigration crisis at the southern border.

"He continues to ignore immigration law, and he tries to go around Congress," Crenshaw says.

President Obama is asking Congress to approve $3.7 billion to help alleviate the border crisis. Crenshaw says Congress will be skeptical.

"He's got a lot of explaining to do," he says. "That's an awful lot of money."

Congressman Ted Yoho says the President's plan outline calls for $300 million to repatriate many of the undocumented immigrations.

"This is money he's asking to solve a problem that he created," Yoho says. "We should take that money out of the President's executive budget instead of coming out of the American taxpayers' money. He should be penalized for his failure to execute the laws on the books."

Crenshaw accuses the President of "encouraging people" with his message that immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally would have a chance to stay.

"A lot of people are trying to come here legally," he says. "They have to wait in line. It's not right to just give amnesty to people just because they snuck across the border."
Congressman Yoho says he's introducing a bill that would suspend all foreign aid to Mexico until they help secure the border.

"We're trading partners," he says. "It's disingenuous for Mexico to take our foreign aid with one hand and cover up their eyes with the other and say, We don't see a problem."

Yoho says the U.S. gave $22 million in aid to Mexico in 2001. That went up to $98 million in 2009 and $186 million in 2012. The numbers for 2013 and 2014 have not been released yet.

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