NASHUA, N.H. — Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry emphasized the importance of securing the southern border Friday at the First In The Nation Republican Leadership Summit, where GOP attendees reacted positively to Perry’s immigration stance.
“The point is this country has got to be secured,” Perry said. “When you look at the Constitution, it tells us a few things that the federal government is supposed to do — standing strong military and secure our borders are two of the things that are enumerated in the Constitution.”
He explained, “I got to think Steve King probably touched on this a little bit here about the rule of law and doing what the Constitution tells us to do … to that issue about — do we want the federal government telling us how to educate our children — telling us how to build our transportation — telling us how to deliver our health care? And the answer is no. States are going to be able to do that. Protecting and defending our border is a federal responsibility.”
“We will deliver this country back to the people that gave us this opportunity. The best days of this country are ahead of us. The best days of this world are ahead of us because we’re going to make the right decisions and we’re going to elect the right leader to lead this country.”
Perry recalled the time last summer when he invited the president to the border but Obama declined.
“He was in Dallas. Now he was on a very important mission, because he couldn’t come look at the border with me. I asked him to. I really wanted him to see, because I think it would have been incredibly instructive for him to come and see the vast challenge that we have in Texas on the border, particularly that southern region.”
Perry added, “He had a very important mission raising money for needy Democrats in Dallas. I get that. But the point is I told the president, ‘Mr. President, If you will not secure this border, Texas will.’ And that’s exactly what we did. We deployed our National Guard. You can secure the border. Do not buy into those that say you just can’t secure the border. Yes, you can.”
Perry suggests putting “strategic fencing” on the border as well as launching aviation assets to fly the 1,800 mile border and analyze what is happening on both sides.