Tom Cotton: The American People Want �Trump�s Vision of Immigration Policy, Not Lindsey
Graham�s�
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is once again defending the Trump administration�s immigration policy
amid attacks from within the Republican Party.
The Arkansas Republican has endorsed what Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called a �hard-edged
approach� to immigration, blaming Cotton specifically for influencing the White House
position that contributed to a partial government shutdown.
�The Tom Cotton approach has no viability here,� Graham said. �He�s become sort
of the Steve King of the Senate.�
King, a Republican congressman representing Iowa, has frequently criticized programs like
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which offer some protection for individuals who
entered the country illegally.
Cotton responded with a statement of his own, defending his counterpart in the House while
casting his own stones at Graham.
�The difference between Steve King and Lindsey Graham is that Steve King can actually win
an election in Iowa,� Cotton told reporters.
He argued that it was Trump�s message that won the 2016 presidential election, so it
should be his policies that the GOP embraces.
�Immigration was a major issue there and the American people and especially Republican
primary voters made it clear that they wanted Donald Trump�s vision of immigration policy,
not Lindsey Graham�s,� Cotton said. �He didn�t make it to the starting line and
he didn�t even make it off the kiddie table in the debates.�
Graham, however, insisted that �there�s just no market� for an agenda that would
require eradicating DACA and other widely supported programs in the interest of securing
immigration reform.
�I like Tom, but on immigration, he�s putting something on the table that there�s
just no market for in phase one,� he said. �As soon as the White House understands
there�s a bandwidth here for phase one that will include border security and DACA and
a few other things, we�ll get a deal.�
Prior to the government shutdown, Cotton criticized Democrats who emphasized immigration issues
as part of those negotiations.
�And the Democrats are saying they�re going to reject that bill because they not
only want amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, but they also don�t want to
take steps to secure our border and stop future flows of illegal immigration,� he said in
a recent Fox News interview. �I just don�t think that�s something that�s going to
fly with the American people.�
He went on to assert that a number of Democrats �don�t want to shut down the government
and deprive American citizens of government services � to include health insurance for
poor kids � because they don�t get an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.�
Among those Democrats up for re-election this year, Cotton said he did not believe that
was �a position that they want to take to the voters in November.�
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