Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul
Interview
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MACCALLUM: Incredible. William, thank you very much. Joining me now, Congressman Mike McCaul of Texas. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Chairman, good to have you with us this evening.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, R-TEXAS, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thanks, Martha.
MACCALLUM: What's your reaction -- you know, when you listen to William's report and you listen to those women, what goes through your mind?
MCCAUL: Well, you know, from my home state of Texas, we're very concerned about up to 7,000 people crossing illegally into the United States. I think, most of them are women and children. But over the last several years, we've stopped 450 known or suspected terrorists from getting into this country, and that's through I says is a good work.
So, my view is that -- you know, we tried to fix this, Martha. Chairman Goodlatte and I had a bill that would have closed illegal loopholes. I had the border wall funding in my bill, and we had a DACA fix, and every Democrat voted against that bill. And that's, that's a sad situation because this bill would have stopped this from happening, provided a deterrence. And yet, every Democrat voted against it.
So, as I look and go back home in the political landscape, this is part of the national debate going into the midterms.
MACCALLUM: Yes, it absolutely is. And you heard the president, he said we're not going to let them in. We're going to stop them at the border, I'm going to bring -- you know, reserves down there, I'm going to bring National Guard down there, we're going to bring military, and basically line them up on the border.
Here is what Chris Cuomo on CNN, said that says to him. Watch this.
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MACCALLUM: Are people going to get shot if this is what it comes to?
MCCAUL: I don't think that's a result we want to see. However, we need to stop this caravan from entering the United States. Because our laws treat them differently from those coming from Mexico, they are given political asylum rights. We need to close the legal loopholes, but in the short term, I think what the president is very frustrated that Congress has failed to act on this, and he wants to do something to stop it.
My recommendation would be posse comitatus to prevent the military and domestic in the United States from acting and under Title 10 authorities. So, basically, my advice would be a coordinated effort between the Mexican government and the United States government to stop this caravan by any means necessary from setting foot in the United States.
MACCALLUM: Yes. Well, we know that the Senate Judiciary Committee tonight asked Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security Secretary, and Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State to force asylum seekers to register in Mexico first.
They're making the case that this will help without perhaps anyone who is dangerous in this pack. You know, but so far, what we've seen is Mexican authorities just sort of saying there's not much we can do. I mean, we got to let these people go through. In fact, they are feeding them and helping them get on their way.
MCCAUL: We really haven't seen a lot of cooperation from the Mexican government, and that's unfortunate. I think Secretary Pompeo who I served with can put pressure. I think the president of the United States can put pressure on the Mexican government because Martha, again, once they set foot in the United States, they're given all this protection by our some laws.
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MACCALLUM: Right. Well, that's what they want, obviously. And you can understand individually why that is what they want. But it's just completely out of control, there's no way to process it. And that as you point out legislatively, is the mess that we find ourselves in.
MCCAUL: Well, after we get back, after the midterm elections this will be the highest priority in the Congress, certainly in the House to provide the funding for the border wall. Close these legal loopholes. Provide a deterrent so they don't come up again. Because they're going to keep coming as long as they can stay in the United States.
And again, once they touch foot here, they will be able to stay. And I think -- I think we have to get creative with the Mexican government working with Homeland Security and our Department of Defense to stop them from ever coming into the United States.
MACCALLUM: Yes. Chairman, thank you very much. Good to see you tonight.
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