Gary Johnson: 'Building A Fence Across The Border Is A Crazy Notion'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President dismissed the idea of building a wall across the Mexican border that Donald Trump has promised to install if he wins the White House in November.
Johnson, in an interview with Rich Zeoli on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, said instead of making it harder for Mexican citizens who want to work in the US to get here, it needs to be simpler.
"We should make it as easy as possible for somebody that wants to come into this country and work to be able to get a work visa. A work visa should entail a background check and social card that applicable taxes get paid. They are not taking jobs that US citizens want. Building a fence across the border is a crazy notion and they're just really hard working people just like you and I."
The former Governor of New Mexico says too many industrious and well meaning people get caught up in a broken system.
"What we need to do is just make it easy for border patrol to actually identify who is, in fact, crossing illegally. Everybody, of course is crossing illegally, but what you're mixing in that illegal group are mothers with their kids that are just looking for jobs...existing that US citizens don't want and so she's got to cross the Rio Grande with her two kids. Well, she's rounded up with her drug smugglers at the same time. She shouldn't have to cross the Rio Grande. She should have a work visa in her hand that she can just walk through a turnstile."
He thinks the idea of a fence will ultimately prove ineffective anyway.
"It's completely unneeded. Building a fence? What are you going to do, build a 30 foot fence? Well, there are still 35 foot ladders and we're talking about 2500 miles of some pretty desolate areas. Building a fence would not be a deterrent to getting across the border."
Johnson also believes the construction of Trump's wall will inevitably lead to unnecessary disputes with our neighbors to the south.
"You have thousands of miles where nobody is. How's the fence going to work across the Texas/Mexico border, where the border is the Rio Grande river? Are we going to build the fence on our side of the Rio Grande? I don't think so. Are we going to build in on the Mexican side?"
