A Nevada rancher who led a standoff with federal forces over unpaid grazing fees weighed in on American immigration policy and slammed President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, in a Tuesday video.
Ammon Bundy said in a video posted on Facebook he was advocating for an immigration solution in the “middle” of the political left and right. He criticized liberals for having “bleeding hearts” and conservatives for fear-mongering and generalizing immigrants. (RELATED: Marco Rubio Says Border Crisis Was Deliberately Manufactured To Test America’s Immigration System)
The Bundy family gained national attention in 2014 when the ranchers led a standoff with the Bureau of Land Management after the agency attempted to confiscate a herd of cattle owned by Cliven Bundy. He and his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and others were arrested and charged with crimes related to the standoff. The charges were dropped and the case was dismissed in January after prosecutors were caught withholding key evidence.
Refugees immigrating legally from oppressive countries should be welcomed in the United States after going through a vetting process, Ammon Bundy said Tuesday. He did not address how immigrants trying to cross into the U.S. illegally should be handled.
“To group them all up like, frankly, our president has done, you know I try to speak very respectfully, but he has basically called them all criminals and said they are not coming in here. At least that’s what I’ve seen,” Ammon Bundy said, taking a shot at Trump.
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Ammon Bundy called opposition to immigrants “based upon fear.” Conservatives worry that the immigrants will “take our food,” “destroy our country with welfare” and “bring in a disease,” he said.
“We have been asked by God to help, to be welcoming, to assist strangers, to not vex them,” Ammon Bundy added. “I have been, frankly, surprised, disappointed and even, at times, disgusted by the amount of people who profess to be Christians but will not truly adhere to what Christ said.”
“There is a possibility of danger with some of [the immigrants]. They need to be vetted, and then they need to be brought in here and added to this great, wonderful country in which we live,” he continued. “They should not be given welfare. That will ruin them.”
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