Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who governs over one of the most crucial border states as the immigration reform debate continues in Washington, is no fan of changing immigration policy without securing the borders first.
In a sit-down interview with Fox News Wednesday, Perry discussed the immigration reform topic at length, during which he said that what he called a "revolving door" policy at the border would compromise any efforts to fix the nation's immigration laws.
"You cannot have an immigration policy until you first secure the border," Perry said.
Perry wasn't onboard with the idea of creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, either.
The inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has been at the forefront of the immigration reform debate since a record number of Latinos voted in favor of President Obama during the November elections. Since that time, more Republicans have been willing to negotiate on that front, most notably the four GOP members of the "Gang of Eight" bipartisan Senate panel that is working on an immigration bill that would include provisions creating that pathway for immigrants and securing borders, as well.
However, Perry opposed that idea, claiming that there is already a pathway for undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens, which is "to get in line and pay your dues and to meet the requirements of citizenship."
Perry isn't the only Texas official who has been outspoken lately on immigration reform.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been openly skeptical regarding President Obama's commitment towards immigration reform-in fact, he told radio host Sean Hannity this week on his radio show., he feels that Obama actually wants immigration reform to fail.
"I think the reason that President Obama is insisting on a path to citizenship is that it is designed to be a poison pill to scuttle the whole bill, so he can have a political issue in 2014 and 2016. I think that's really unfortunate," Cruz said this week.
Furthermore, Cruz added that President Obama was aware that the bill would likely be defeated in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, which is what the White House wants. Midterm elections for some House reps are next year.
"The people who are really being played by the president are many of the immigration reform advocacy groups who very much want to see positive immigration reform pass," Cruz said.
In the past, Cruz has been very open about his opposition to creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In January, after the bipartisan panel revealed that they were working together to create a bill on immigration reform, he said he had "deep concerns" regarding such a bill.
"To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with [the] rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally," he told The Daily Caller.
However, as the Houston Chronicle notes, Cruz is in a shrinking minority of legislators in Washington opposing immigration reform, with GOP legislators such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Rand Raul, R-Ky., being more receptive to coming to a compromise on the issue.
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