As the border crisis continues with thousands of immigrants seeking to enter the United States, House Republicans are attempting to stem the tide by instilling new border security protection legislation. Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) believes that the U.S. should aid in stabilizing the home countries of these migrants so they don't have to flee in the first place.
While Rep. Moskowitz acknowledged the border crisis is a humanitarian crisis he also criticized Republicans calling for military action at the border when they opposed military action in Ukraine, through which he stated his stabilization alternative.
"It's interesting [Republicans] want military action [at the border], but they were against military action in Ukraine, so they're not consistent on that topic. What I would say is there is a humanitarian crisis. People are fleeing their countries because they're fleeing their governments, and their countries aren't safe. So from a diplomatic standpoint, we have to be working with those countries through aid and other areas to try and make those countries more stable, so [migrants] stay there. The people who talk about immigration and the border being such a problem don't want to invest in those countries so that people stay and don't leave," said Rep. Moskowitz in an interview with The Floridian.
Additionally, Moskowitz said that the border crisis did not start under President Biden, and under President Donald Trump, migrant children were separated from their families.
This is true, but under the Obama administration, children were also separated and housed in cages that it built.
Moreover, he called upon Republicans to be honest about how much of a role immigrants play in the economy, especially in agriculture.
"We also have to be honest about the conversation about immigration. Have any of the Republican members who talk about immigration or want to shut immigration down, have they ever talked to the agricultural industry in Florida or other states? There are not many people who are graduating high school or college in this country that are picking fruit in these fields," added Moskowitz.
Additionally, Moskowitz pointed out that migrants are working the jobs that most if not all Americans, refuse to do.
These folks are undocumented, and we're not having an honest conversation about how there is a significant need in this country for labor, and that labor is only being provided by immigrants. It's not being provided by Americans. But they don't want to be honest and have that conversation. But it's the truth. You're buying groceries at your grocery store, most of those groceries were picked by Americans, they were picked by immigrants," Moskowitz concluded.
