Lindsey Graham Claims ‘Terrorists’ From Middle East Could Infiltrate Migrant Groups And Cross Southern Border
South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that “terrorists” from the Middle East could infiltrate groups of migrants walking toward the southern border, Newsweek reports.
Graham went on Fox News to discuss President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, and the criticism the Trump administration is facing.
Graham, who visited border detention centers with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, blamed the situation on the Democratic Party, stating that the Democrats “should do as much as Mexico” when it comes to immigration.
The senator also remarked that terrorists from the Middle East could easily infiltrate groups of migrants traveling from Central America, and enter the United States.
“Our Democratic colleagues are perpetuating a system that’s dangerous to children, it’s going to result in a national security nightmare for America because the terrorists can easily get in this group,” he said, surprising Fox News’ host Maria Bartiromo.
“It would be so easy for a terrorist from Syria, Iran or someplace else to go to Central America, get in the middle of this group and come to the United States. It would be so easy to do.”
Bartiromo concurred, stating that there are already “people coming from Syria.”
As Newsweek notes, the host provided no evidence and cited no data to back up her claim.
Congressional Democrats have long criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policy, most recently taking aim at the detention facilities they claim are overcrowded.
According to The Guardian, reports have shown that migrants of all ages are being detained in squalid conditions. In response to criticism, Trump — much like Graham, and Pence — blamed the Democratic Party for not securing additional funding, while urging migrants to not come to the United States.
Federal immigration authorities attempted raids in at least two neighborhoods in New York City on Saturday, a day prior to when President Trump had said ICE agents would begin national roundups of people illegally in the U.S. https://t.co/O8NurhIfmG
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 14, 2019
As The Inquisitr reported, what is being described as a crisis at the border is also causing a crisis in the Democratic Party.
The progressive fraction of House Democrats — Representatives Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — have taken a more aggressive approach toward Trump, criticizing Democratic leaders for increasing funding for immigration authorities.
Their criticism appears to have angered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has feuded with the progressives in the past, prompting her to dismiss her younger colleagues in public appearances. The two groups of Democrats have been going back and forth for the past week, publicly criticizing each other.
President Trump joined the conversation via Twitter, siding with Pelosi and telling Ocasio-Cortez and others to “go back” to the “crime infested places from which they came.”
