(CNSNews.com) - Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) there is “healthy skepticism” for dealing with Democrats on fixes to the immigration system, and “if you can't deport an illegal alien who has a valid and final order of removal that’s adjudicated by an immigration judge, who can you deport?”
“President Trump has also delayed a roundup that was supposed to begin today of migrant families that have already been given their deportation orders. He said he’s giving Congress two weeks to work out and reform the asylum system, and otherwise, he’ll impose the roundup. I don't have to tell you. You have a little bit of a look on your face. The likelihood – you talk about healthy skepticism -- Congress isn't going to reform the asylum system in two weeks sir,” host Chris Wallace said.
“So Chris, I was going to say healthy skepticism is warranted for dealing with Democrats when it comes to immigration,” Cotton responded. “Let’s just think about the Democrats position here, Chris. These are people who have claimed asylum in our country. They’ve had their day in court.
“They’ve had their claims rejected, and now they face a valid and final order of removal. If they can't deport people like that, who can we deport? That's why the Democrats’ position always comes back to, in essence, open borders,” he said.
“What do you think of the president’s decision to hold off on the round up for these people that should be deported?” Wallace interjected.
“Two weeks, for a couple thousand families is not going to make a big difference, and if we could get a genuine law passed through Congress that would address the asylum reforms that we need to stop the crisis at the border, that would be a good thing,” Cotton said.
“But again I go back to this point: if you can't deport an illegal alien who has a valid and final order of removal that’s adjudicated by an immigration judge, who can you deport?” he asked.
On Saturday, President Trump announced he was delaying a planned a mass roundup off illegal immigrants by ICE for two weeks, in hopes that Congress can reach an agreement on a border security deal and reforms to the asylum process.
“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!” President Trump tweeted.