On Monday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin discussed the Trump administration’s self-deportation offer and responded to Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) suggesting that we make those in the country illegally pay a fine, undergo a background check, and then have a work visa for a few years that would be renewed for good behavior by stating that “Gallego is exactly right. Because the alternative to self-deportation is that you are going to be fined, you will be arrested, you will be imprisoned, and you will never be allowed to return.”
Host Blake Burman asked, “Here’s what Ruben Gallego, who’s a Senator, Democrat, in Arizona, said, he said, ‘Why don’t we make them pay a $5,000 fine, go through a background check[,] and give them a work visa for a few years, renewable with good behavior[?]’ That was the Senator today. What would you say?”
McLaughlin responded, “Well, Ruben Gallego is exactly right. Because the alternative to self-deportation is that you are going to be fined, you will be arrested, you will be imprisoned, and you will never be allowed to return. So, I’m glad Ruben Gallego must have been reading some of our posts out there, because we will find those who are in this country illegally.”
Earlier, McLaughlin said that those who self-deport will “potentially be able to come back the right, legal way and potentially come back to live the American Dream.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
