Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused former President Trump of “playing politics” with the border crisis Sunday after he called on Republican senators to kill a bipartisan border bill.
Haley made the comments during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Dana Bash. She agreed with Bash that Trump was seeking to halt progress on illegal immigration in order to continue using it as a political issue.
“He is absolutely playing politics. Of course he is, by telling [senators] not to do anything,” Haley said. “But what they do need to do is put a tough immigration law in place.”
Haley went on to say that a “Remain in Mexico” provision must be included in any reform bill to make sure illegal immigrants “never step foot on U.S. soil.”
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She also addressed Republicans who argue Biden already has all the tools he needs to ensure border security if he were to start enforcing the law.
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“Yes, Biden could go back to some of the laws… but three million illegal immigrants came under Trump,” she said. “That’s because the asylum laws are not strong enough. We need to strengthen the asylum laws so we don’t have people coming in here for loose reasons.”
Haley also addressed a statement she made last week suggesting that U.S. states have the right to secede from the union. She clarified that the U.S. Constitution does not allow states to secede, but added that friction between states like Texas and the federal government is caused by Washington not acting in the interest of voters.
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“People don’t think the government is listening to them. I’ve been 400 miles on that border, Dana. When you see what those ranchers are going through, when you see what those people in Eagle Pass are going through, and when you see what’s going on in New York and other cities across the country – because now every city is Eagle Pass – we’ve gotta start getting this under control,” she said.
