Lauren Boebert: "We have got to shut the border down, period"

IN GRAND JUNCTION| Congresswoman Lauren Boebert gave the interview after meeting with her fans at Jerry’s Outdoor Sports. (Photo/Héctor Paniagua-Entérate Latino)

Newsrooms El Comercio de Colorado & Entérate Latino

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Current Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is seeking re-election. The congresswoman for Colorado’s extensive 3rd district claims to know the solution to the border crisis. “The human trafficking that is taking place through the cartels, which are a very well-oiled machine. I think they are more effective than our government. They are doing a very good job there on the southern border doing exactly what they want. They have operational control of our border. We have to close the border, period,” Boebert said.

The congresswoman continued, “I have spoken with border patrol agents and the policies that were taken away from them to have operational control of our border brings them home defeated daily. They feel like they’re not doing their job because they can’t do it. I asked them what they need… from us, from me as a Representative. They told me that at this time they don’t need more resources, they don’t need more staff. They don’t even need more infrastructure, they just need policies in place to secure our southern border.”

Limit to abortion

If the border is not secured on his terms, Boebert would not discuss the legalization of DACA, much less immigration reform. Meanwhile, Boebert would support a law like the one proposed by Lindsey Graham that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks. “I am pro-life. My voting record shows that I have a 100 percent pro-life voting record. And that is something that I absolutely value. More than 70 percent of Americans agree with me that full-term abortion is not okay. That is absolutely extreme,” she concluded.

Transcript of the interview with Lauren Boebert

The interview was conducted by Hector Paniagua, journalist and editor of Entérate Latino, during a meeting between the Republican congresswoman and her supporters at Jerry’s Outdoor Sports in Grand Junction. This is a collaborative effort between our publication El Comercio de Colorado and Entérate Latino, a leading publication in Western Colorado.

Enterate Latino: Would you support Senator Graham for a ban on abortion in the U.S.A?

Lauren Boebert: “That’s not what his legislation is. So I am pro-life. My voting record shows that I’ve a 100% pro-life voting record. And that is something that I absolutely value. More than 70% of Americans agree with me that full term abortion is not right. That is absolutely extreme. And unfortunately right now Democrats and the Democrat party they want full term abortion on demand. It’s no longer… they’re no longer the party of safe, legal and rare. It’s shout your abortions from the streets. You know Roe v. Wade that was the right decision. And if you read that decision, it says that this was given back to the people and their representatives. So there may be a role there in Congress to continue to fight for life, but I will always give a voice to the voiceless. And I’m so happy that thousands of lives are being saved right now because of the trigger laws that were enacted in states like Georgia who now have a heartbeat law that is saving thousands of lives.”

EL: Do you support a bill that would grant citizenship to the 10 or 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States?

LB: “My hard line is to secure the border. We have to secure the southern border. Tens of millions of illegal aliens have come into our country for a very long time now, for decades, and we have done nothing to secure the southern border. We put bandaids on it, we’ve talked about immigration reform. But the southern border is never secure. I’ve talked to the border patrol agents and the policies that were stripped from them to have operational control of our border makes them go home defeated on a daily basis. They feel like they are not doing their jobs because they’re not able to. I asked them what they need…from us, from me as a Representative. He said you know right now we don’t need more resources, we don’t need more personnel. We don’t even need more infrastructure, we just need the policies in place to secure our southern border. That is my hard line, without a discussion and an actual solution to our southern border, there is no conversation to be had about illegal immigration, period.”

EL: I heard you mentioned [during her rally event] taxation without representation. There’s 10 to 11 million here who pay taxes, do not get represented at all. What do you think about that?

LB: “Who broke our laws to come here illegally?

EL: Would you support a bill that legalize DACA recipients to get citizenship, for the DACA.

LBt: “You just asked me that.”

EL: That was for the undocumented parents..

LB: “So we’re gonna just…just seven amnesty questions, is that what we’re doing? Ok.

EL: When Donald Trump said that Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals, do you support his comments (before his election)?

LB: “Have you been to the southern border? Have you seen what the cartel is doing? Have you seen the…?

EL: Reporter (I’m from the border, I was born and raised in the border).

LB: “Ok. So then you have seen the children who are coming out of there unaccompanied. They’re on the hands of the cartel, who are in the hands of murderers and rapists. The human trafficking that is taking place through the cartel that is a very well-oiled machine. I think they are more effective than our government. They are doing a darn good job there at the southern border doing exactly what they want, and they’re the ones who have operational control of our southern border. We have got to shut the border down, period.”

EL: There are people who say that your comments on national media are anti-immigrant and reflect offensive language, what would you say to them?

LB: “I would say that you’re watching too much CNN.”