Minority Senate Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday that Democrats want to keep drugs, firearms and laundered money from crossing the border, but didn’t mention illegal immigrants.
The Illinois Democrat said the party would be willing to fund security measures such as more vehicle screenings at the border to stop drug and weapons trafficking, but not the $5 billion, or even $1.6 billion, sought by President Trump for “some medieval wall.”
“I can tell you I think there’s an appetite among Democrats to do something sensible at the wall, for example, to stop the flow of drugs into this country and to stop the flow of weapons and laundered drug money out of this country that builds these cartels in Mexico and Central America,” said Mr. Durbin on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He didn’t mention, nor was he asked about, the thousands of Central Americans amassed south of the border who traveled as part of a migrant caravan seeking to enter the United States.
A partial government shutdown kicked in Saturday as the White House and Senate Democrats locked horns over funding for a wall along the southern border. Democrats have said they will block any funding for a wall.
“If you ask the experts, even in the administration, they will tell you that technology and personnel, those are the things that are needed desperately and quickly,” Mr. Durbin said. “The president ought to be sitting down with us in making this border more secure by making investments, he’ll have Democrats on board.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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