CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX)

Interview

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SCIUTTO: Out to sea, out to deployment without a paycheck. Joining me now, Republican Congressman Jodey Arrington of Texas. Congressman, thanks for taking the time on this holiday morning.

REP. JODEY ARRINGTON (R), TEXAS: You bet, Jim, greetings from the largest cotton patch in the world.

(LAUGHTER)

SCIUTTO: Well, it's good to have you. You're aware of the Democrats' position on this in response to the president's offer over the weekend. And their position is that the president created this problem, the president removed protection from Dreamers and that offering them temporary protection now as a concession.

In their view is not a concession at all. In your view, is temporary protections for Dreamers whose protections the president removed himself, is that a compromise?

ARRINGTON: Absolutely it is. I think if you ask the DACA folks if having the peace of mind and not being -- not always looking over their shoulder for fear of being deported because that is the law of the land.

[09:20:00] The president would have to grant an extension, save and accept the court stay that has occurred recently. So I think it's a big deal for DACA folks, and it gives the runway for us to negotiate and work out a broader, more comprehensive immigration reform plan.

So I think it's the latest in the president's efforts repeatedly to work with the Democrats, to find common ground, to find a compromise solution so that we can get the government back on, these workers back online and move the country forward. And most importantly, Jim, secure the border and protect our citizens.

SCIUTTO: Let me just push back on a couple of things there. I mean, if you're a Dreamer here, three years doesn't exactly -- I mean, it takes -- it takes your eyes off, you know, your shoulder for three years. But would you support offering permanent protection for Dreamers?

Because that's in actuality what the Dreamers are seeking and what your Democratic colleagues are. Would you support that as a way forward to actually reach a compromise?

ARRINGTON: Well, what I want to make sure happens first and foremost is that our citizens in this country get the security that they deserve and should expect from their government. That is the first priority. And then I think we can look at negotiating on a number of components to immigration reform.

And it's not just DACA. By the way, a big part of this influx of illegal immigration has to do with magnets that draw people here, and loopholes like our asylum policies. So this is a multi-faceted and very complex issue, as I know you understand.

But I would -- but I would say that the president has been operating in good faith. And I think this latest proposal, with an --

SCIUTTO: All right --

ARRINGTON: Extension -- a three-year extension is meaningful and the Democrats have to move in good faith towards him --

SCIUTTO: Well --

ARRINGTON: Or they're going to lose the support from the American people because they want reasonableness, and they understand the government has to compromise.

SCIUTTO: How is it good faith if the president supported before the holidays legislation to reopen the government and the Republican Senate -- Republican-controlled Senate did, and then the president reversed on an agreement he previously supported. How is that good- faith negotiations?

ARRINGTON: Listen, the president has asked repeatedly Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership if he were to do this, that and the other that they are asking for, would they give him the proposal and mainly that fundamental component of physical barriers.

And she just rejects it out of hand. I mean, listen, it's an irrational position, and I think your viewers understand this. It's irrational to say walls are immoral when, in fact, Democrats have voted for it. When in fact, walls work and we have the facts in El Paso and Tucson where we've deployed physical barriers, and I think it's disingenuous that people live behind physical barriers and are protected by them and then to claim that they're immoral?

I think people see that as not just unreasonable, but irrational. So we need to see the Democrats move on this, Jim. They need to move on this latest proposal. And at a minimum, provide a counterproposal so that we can keep the dialogue and get resolutions as quickly as possible --

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you, because as you know, your Texas colleague, a Republican Will Hurd, whose district is on the border. It's got several hundred miles to the border. I was in his office just last week, and they showed me the map -- he does not support the wall.

He says there are better ways to go about security. He supports the Secure Fence Act, doubling down on technology on the border. As you know, the drugs actually come across at ports of entry and we've spoken to members of Customs and Border Patrol and they say what they really need is more manpower and womanpower at those ports of entry to find the drugs as they come across.

You're saying it's just the Democrats, but the fact is you've got a Texas Republican colleague who says, you know, the wall is really -- really should not be our focus here. Are you worried that the president is kind of tying this all to the wall because he made a political promise here and has not focused on the solutions that actually get the safety you're looking for?

ARRINGTON: I have tremendous respect for my friend Will Hurd, but let me say this. Walls are not the only solution, physical barriers are not the only solution, but they are a fundamental component of security in any scenario.

And they work, they've been proven to work. So it is -- it is boots on the ground. It is technology. It is the judicial infrastructure to expedite deportation hearing. It's all of the above. It's turning off magnets, it's closing loopholes. But physical barriers are part of it, and to just reject that out of hand is too obviously purely political.

[09:25:00] And all of us, Jim, all of us have to put our country's interest before politics. And we all have to deal with the various factions of our party who won't be happy with certainly with every component. We've got to find a way to find common ground --

SCIUTTO: Right --

ARRINGTON: Compromise and move the country forward.

SCIUTTO: Final question for you because --

ARRINGTON: Yes --

SCIUTTO: I hear you. There are -- listen, it's Washington. There are politics on both sides, and clearly Nancy Pelosi has taken a position and said, we're going to dig our heel in and not give a dollar on the border wall.

But the fact is, the president was going to move forward, he got criticism from the far right media and reversed on the support for the budget deal prior to the holidays. And he is keeping government shut, right? I mean, what's your response to your Democratic colleague's argument, OK, let's reopen the government and then let's work on a comprehensive deal here.

Why not open the government first and not hold folks like those coast guard sailors who are going out to sea now and not getting paid?

ARRINGTON: Listen, even "The Washington Post" has implored the Democrats to not wait until the government --

SCIUTTO: I know, but I'm asking you, I'm asking you --

ARRINGTON: Yes, well --

SCIUTTO: Why not open the government --

ARRINGTON: Sure --

SCIUTTO: Why not both parties open the government and then negotiate?

ARRINGTON: This is a straight down the middle objective sort of commentary on this. If I'm looking at negotiations, and I see one side is completely recalcitrant, completely obstinate and irrational, and they're not willing to give, and they even claim ridiculously that walls are immoral and that that dug in, I have to say I put -- I lay the blame of a shutdown on that side of the negotiating --

SCIUTTO: Well --

ARRINGTON: Equation.

SCIUTTO: Well, the majority of Americans as you know in the polls do not, and the president himself said he would own the shutdown prior. So I'm just curious if you're concerned about paying a political price for this. I mean, you can make that argument, but the majority of Americans aren't buying that argument.

ARRINGTON: I think if the American people see that this president and the Republicans are in good faith trying to work with the Democrats, they'll give us the grace to continue to do what we're doing. And I think that -- you know, politics aside, the first priority and the most important job of the government is to protect its citizens.

So if there's any time that I would be in favor of this sort of extreme measure of a government shutdown, it is for the sake of my communities in west Texas. And the law enforcement folks that I met with on Saturday that say the drugs and the crime is wreaking havoc on our communities.

It's real. It's growing. And they don't have the resources to deal with it. So, yes, I think we should -- we should talk more about that, Jim, than on these others. They're real. The other ones, the cost, the disruption, all that's real --

SCIUTTO: It's big --

ARRINGTON: But the lives that are being affected by not having border security, that's more important to me.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Jodey Arrington, thanks for joining us this morning.

ARRINGTON: Thanks, Jim.

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