Thom Tillis: “I come to the floor today to talk about the situation at the border and to lend my voice to other Members who are going…”

“I come to the floor today to talk about the situation at the border and to lend my voice to other Members who are going to speak about a border that needs to be secured. About 3 years ago, we had about one-half million illegal crossings. Two years ago, we had 2 million illegal crossings. Now, we are hearing that, in another 12 months--or in the last 12 months--almost 3 million illegal crossings. And it is likely to be that number or go higher. We have lost control of the border. Now, when you think, well, what does it mean? Because that is a great comment for somebody from some political stripe to make, but what does that really mean? When you get to that level of illegal crossings, you are inviting some of the worst crossings that could possibly happen. Now, let's keep in mind that there are a number of people who are escaping dangerous situations in their country of origin. There are people who probably, rightfully, should be in the United States or some safe third country because they are fleeing a dangerous situation in their country. Think Nicaragua. Think Ukraine. But we have reached a point to where we actually have a debate on the Senate floor about whether or not we need borders at all. Or we have other people who just say: Build a wall. Frankly, I think they are both wrong. I am not here to talk about building a wall that is over 1,000 miles long, that goes from the Pacific Ocean to the gulf. What I am talking about is securing the border.…”