Fresh from a 24-hour trip to the southern border in Yuma, Ariz., Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick spoke with PoliticsPA about the experience, what he saw and what he learned, why Chuck Schumer‘s bipartisan Senate bill is flawed, and much more in a wide-ranging interview.
The Border Trip
McCormick made his second excursion to border and met with local officials, including Yuma’s sheriff and the former chief of the border patrol for the Yuma sector. He went there with the border patrol and talked with local health care professionals.
“It was just an unbelievable set of experiences and data points,” said McCormick. “The two big takeaways – this is an enormous leadership failure on the part of President (Joe) Biden and (Sen. Bob) Casey, who supports Biden every step of the way. It’s a huge challenge on the national security front. We’ve had 10 million illegal immigrants enter the country under Biden’s watch. And even last year, there were 160 that were apprehended that were on the terrorist watch list. This is an enormous economic burden.”
He talked about how hospitals were overwhelmed and how it affects the quality of care. And he spoke about the fentanyl crisis in the country and the Commonwealth.
“In Arizona, they project that about 50 percent of fentanyl comes across its border,” McCormick shared. “They talked to us about the cartels, how sophisticated they are in pushing people across, the human exploitation and suffering that’s taken place, the human trafficking. It costs somewhere between $5,000-20,000 to come across the border through the cartels. And for people that don’t have the money, they are essentially sold into servitude as drug runners or prostitutes. It’s truly horrific.”
McCormick said that he believes that one solution to the border crisis is a return to the policies of former President Donald Trump.
“The ability to stem this flow resides in the executive orders that Trump put into place and all those were overturned on the very first day by the Biden administration. So it’s a fundamentally different philosophy to try to secure the border. Finish the wall. Keep people going only through legal entry points. Have questions of asylum resolved on the other side of the border.
“There is no doubt that a border wall is a very significant deterrent to crossing the border. It’s very hard to breach and creates a real barrier to people coming across where it’s been left wide open. Finish the wall. I think it’s clear that it works.”
The Bipartisan Border Bill
McCormick also used the phrase, “height of cynicism” when asked about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his plan to reintroduce his bipartisan border security bill that calls for a reformation of asylum laws, the hiring of thousands of border agents and seeks to curtail fentanyl smuggling.
“If this really was the goal, President Biden already has enormous authority to have stopped the flow of illegal immigrants,” he said. “Second, the bill being proposed was well meaning, but is essentially trying to solve a different problem. The resources are primarily focused on expediting the asylum process processing the asylum seekers more quickly. That’s not the problem. The primary problem is that you have had millions and millions of people come across the border seeking asylum in a way that’s completely out of control. The bill is full of loopholes and I have no belief, based on what Biden has done so far in not exercising the authorities he has, why would he exercise them under this bill?
“And imagine if this became law,” he continued. “Take that law and compare it to the Europeans, the Asians, the Japanese … and let’s just compare how these countries in every other industrialized country in the world deal with this question of illegal entry for asylum. This would be the most liberal, lenient and lean approach to asylum of any advanced developed country in the world. I call it cynical because this isn’t an attempt to really solve anything. It’s an attempt to make political points.”
McCormick also was critical of Casey, along with a number of other Democratic senators, saying there is evidence in the vote that senators want to include 10 million illegal immigrants in the census count.
“This is a big deal. This 10 million could affect the allocation of congressional seats. If New York or California get another seat, that both affects the balance of power in the House and also the Electoral College. At some point down the road, Democrats will be in a position to make a case for a path to citizenship for all those prospective new voters. That’s why I call it cynical.”
World Affairs
The West Point graduate also talked about world issues, including China’s economic threats to the United States and instability in the Middle East.
“China is an adversary and is taking steps to challenge America’s role in the world,” said McCormick. “I think what’s happening in Russia and in Ukraine, risks destabilizing Europe, which has been a source of peace and stability for the world since since the end of World War II. And what’s happening in the Middle East is absolutely destabilizing. You have in Iran, the state sponsor of terror. It’s the underwriter of terrorist proxies. Hamas is a beneficiary of Iran.
“I think we’re in a very precarious moment. And I think we need strong leadership. I’m a Reagan Republican – peace through strength. I think the best way to ensure that America remains unchallenged, and to keep our young men and women out of military crisis and out of war, is to be able to project strength. And so I think we’ve lost that capacity under President Biden.”
Pennsylvania and Why He’s Running
He did not offer a comment on the state’s new tourism slogan – Pennsylvania: The Great American Getaway – but did say that the Commonwealth is incredibly blessed.
“We’re incredibly blessed by these unbelievable natural resources, natural gas. We’re blessed by this incredible geography, beautiful parts of Pennsylvania, all sorts of different geography and climates from Lancaster to the Grand Canyon, to Elk County. You just have these incredible, beautiful, different parts of Pennsylvania. We’re blessed by world-class universities. We’ve got proximity to 65% of the population the United States within 400-500 miles. We’ve got this incredibly gritty workforce. So I think we’re uniquely blessed and I think we’re punching way below our weight.
“Bob Casey’s been in office for 18 years, and I challenge you to put your finger on a meaningful contribution he has made to Pennsylvania’s future. I don’t think there’s been one and I think he is out of touch with what’s going on in Pennsylvania. And I think he’s unequipped for the moment and the challenges we face. That’s why I’m running and that’s why I feel confident in the future.”
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8 Responses
Dave McCormick is a smart decent guy. Unfortunately, he has sold his soul to Donald Trump. For example, he knows that the bipartisan immigration bill, while not perfect, would help the situation at the border. Mitch McConnell and virtually the entire Senate republican leadership has told him that. Trump wants the issue rather than a solution. Too bad, McCormick is following Trump rather than exercising independent judgement.
The census is based on an enumeration of residents, not citizens.
I like McCormick’s style, his analaysis of the problems and issues. I agree with him on Casey, name one thing that he has been a leader on, a prime sponsor, did something that made a difference in nearly 18 years in the US Senate. I think the other thing McCormick brings is his knowledge of all of PA from urban hub cities to rural PA. I think he will be helpful to rural PA, suburban PA, urban PA and everything in between – because this guy knows PA!
Mr. McCormick could not be more wrong. What he is doing is showboating. There isn’t a single bill that is perfect. So… instead of listening to Trump, the Republicans on the Hill should have taken up the bill, argued it on the floor, perhaps sought amendments, and then put it to a vote. Instead, they want election talking points. A real shame. Now, go about your business, sir and next time you are asked about this topic, perhaps you can come up with real solutions like the ones in the Sen. Lankford bill.
The border bill proposed by the Democrats had no starting point for Republicans. Every single aspect of the bill was nothing but a bid for more tax dollars to fix a problem created by Biden. The fixes all pointed towards ways to speed up the processing and allowing illegal aliens to cross our border. No other president in history has ever handed our mass paroles and accepted such nonsense amnesty claims. It’s quite clear Biden’s intentions were to flood America with illegals, and bog down our immigration courts.
The Democrats need to tell Biden to reverse course and go back to the Trump era handling of illegal aliens, stop the paroles, and let them wait outside our borders if they want to file for asylum.
The bill wasn’t flawed. It was a bipartisan compromise that criminal Trump put the kibosh on because he doesn’t want the problem solved – he wants a political issue.
Senator Casey has brought billions of dollars into our district over the years that has helped build & maintain infrastructure, improved healthcare, and helped our community. Just because you don’t live here so you don’t know doesn’t mean he hasn’t done things.
Biden started the problem by sending out a global invitation that he had no intention of protecting our border and he would hand out mass paroles. It’s called a magnet!