CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Immigration

Interview

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Joining me now, the chairman of the house homeland committee Republican congressman from Texas, Michael McCaul.

And good to have you with us, Chairman. You know, you just heard the report. And it's moving. You know, the family came here she said not for a better life but for simply a chance to live. The President calls this an urgent humanitarian situation. Even the former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush said that, you know, so many of these families are doing is in his quote "not a felony, an act of love" is what it is. So what should the United States do with this family?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: Well look, I went down to DHS intake facility in the Cullen, Texas and I saw three young girls, younger than my daughters, all in tears. I saw babies down there. This is a very tragic crisis that's going on in this country right now. One like I've never seen before on the border.

In the case of your expose, that individual, if they could demonstrate a fear of persecution back home and violence and possible trafficking, that would give them a legal basis to stay in the country.

I do think it's important, though, we see over 50,000 of these minors coming into the United States since October to provide a message of deterrence to stop them from coming in the first place.

We're not going to stop this until we start sending them back. And I know the administration's been all over the map on that. We've had Congressman Henry Cuellar from Laredo agree with that assessment, but that's just human nature. A deterrent value I think here is important because otherwise they will keep coming.

BURNETT: Well, you know, and the President has said recently, you know, look, don't come, because you could get killed trying to come and if you do come, you know, you'll get deported. I mean, I know you've been critical of the President's immigration policies. But you know, today he said look, give me $3.7 billion more. I don't need new legislation, but I need more money and I want to use some of that money for border patrol agents, for department of homeland security, for assistance there to try to stop this problem. I mean, do you at least support what he's trying to do there? Is that money that he's asked for something that you think is fair for him to have?

MCCAUL: We just got today. We're looking at the supplemental appropriations bill. I'm a little concerned it's a short-term band- aid to what could be a long-term crisis if we don't fix this. And what I mean by that, I think we need to look at things like changing the 2008 trafficking law to provide for faster removal from the United States back to Central America.

In other words, so this is not a one-way ticket. It's a one-way trip.

BURNETT: And you have been working now for many years, so is the President, right? The Senate passed an immigration bill. The President said he'll sign it. It needs to get through the House. Obviously, that's where it comes to you. And you were invited to meet the President back in October as you say where this all started with these children coming over the border. You decided not to go meet with him at this time saying you saw it as a political trap.

But if you won't meet with him, if you won't talk about it, if you won't look at the bill on the table, how can you be frustrated at him and blame him for the problem?

MCCAUL: Well, I do think a lot of these policies and administrative actions have encouraged this. It's been spun by the direct trafficking organization, the direct cartels that profit off these children that if you come, you can stay. Now, was that completely accurate? Maybe not, but they're misleading what the President has done with these policies of immigration reform and also this other bill --

BURNETT: But would you meet with him and talk to him about --?

MCCAUL: Of course.

BURNETT: About something now? I mean, because you refused to in the fall.

MCCAUL: I think this is a time for us to come together. I speak with secretary Jeh Johnson on a regular basis. One thing I would like to see in a supplement bill is my border security bill that passed unanimously in a bipartisan way out of my committee, the homeland security committee, and it's been held up because of immigration reform. I'd like to see a bill like that being put in the middle of these supplemental appropriations.

BURNETT: All right, Chairman, thank you very much as always.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Erin.

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