Sen. Coons on WDEL: “We can’t allow the President to successfully claim, that like a king, he has the right to say nobody gets access to courts or judges, all of them are invaders who get sent home.”

Sen. Coons: “I support stronger borders but I also support the rule of law.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today joined WDEL to discuss the border crisis and how the farm bill will impact Delawareans.

“There are folks, Peter, who present themselves at our border who cross illegally, who are sent back home. In fact, a majority of them,” said Senator Coons. “But there's also folks who present themselves with a legal claim, under our system, for asylum, for refuge, because they're fleeing conditions of incredible violence and persecution in their home countries. We can't allow the president to successfully claim, that like a king, he has the right to say nobody gets access to courts or judges, all of them are invaders who get sent home. That's why we have an immigration law system. It's to sort out who has a real legal claim from who doesn't. I support stronger borders but I also support the rule of law.”

Full audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview

Sen. Coons on the border crisis: Well, two things, Peter: Our immigration system has for decades prioritized families and family reunification and merit-based immigration. Our president is engaging in sort of a war of words and a war of deeds to marginalize folks who come here seeking a better life for themselves and their families. I think it's important that our listeners understand that this crisis of children being separated from their parents at the border is something the president created by adopting a zero-tolerance policy several months ago. He has now signed an executive order reversing that, but we still don't know how or when these families will be reunited or what the path forward is. There are folks, Peter, who present themselves at our border who cross illegally, who are sent back home. In fact, a majority of them. But there's also folks who present themselves with a legal claim, under our system, for asylum, for refuge, because they're fleeing conditions of incredible violence and persecution in their home countries. We can't allow the president to successfully claim, that like a king, he has the right to say nobody gets access to courts or judges, all of them are invaders who get sent home. That's why we have an immigration law system. It's to sort out who has a real legal claim from who doesn't. I support stronger borders but I also support the rule of law. 

Sen. Coons on the border crisis: Frankly, yes. I think the president -- I've had direct, in-person conversations with him about immigration policy. And he -- at the time was strikingly unfamiliar with bipartisan efforts in the Senate to pass a law that would address some of his concerns and issues, and with the underlying process. There's been articles last night and this morning suggesting that he didn't really grasp what his executive order would do and doesn't really understand the constitutional limits on his power to solve all this by signing something. To fix our broken immigration system is going to require Congress to act, but to reverse this policy that the president adopted that separated more than 2,300 children from their parents, that was a problem, a crisis, of his making.

Sen. Coons on the farm bill: Well, Peter there's two different versions of the farm bill. There's a House version and a Senate version. The House version, which just narrowly passed last week, makes huge changes to food stamps and school lunch programs. I don't expect a similar version to move ahead in the Senate, where a bipartisan bill will likely be taken up this week. I'm likely to support it because it includes important investments for conservation, for farm programs, and it sustains our country's long-term investment in making sure that children get access to nutritious school lunches.

More on the farm bill: Yes, we are one of the highest percentage states in terms of land preservation for farming, but that was done with federal money with state match. When I was county executive we invested money in farmland preservation in southern New Castle County. Previous governors, Governor Markell, and Governor Minner, and Governor Carper invested a great deal along with our general assemblies in farmland preservation. But there's huge development pressure here in Delaware, as you know Peter. And, yes, I hear from folks that, they see shrinking farmland in Delaware and they'd like us to do more to preserve it.

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