Arizona cares about the border wall, not DACA: Dr. Kelli Ward
Dr. Kelli Ward, Arizona Senate candidate, said Wednesday that the people of Arizona are more concerned with building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border than reforming the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA).
“They don’t care about DACA right now, they want a wall. Anything that we are discussing right now has to be temporary for the people who are currently here. We first and foremost have to secure the border,” she told FOX Business’ Melissa Francis on “After the Bell.”
DACA was an executive action that allowed undocumented immigrants under 16 years old to apply for protection from deportation. The Trump administration ended the Obama-era program, which expires on March 5.
The people of Arizona, in Ward’s view, want there to be punishments for illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. Ward warns Democrats to stop holding the government hostage, over trying to make a deal on DACA.
“The Democrats have manufactured a crisis that doesn’t exist. This does not expire any time soon and so to consider holding our military and other substantial government services hostage…is ridiculous,” she said.
Ward is running to replace Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) who announced his resignation last October and has become an outspoken critic of President Trump.
Flake gave a long-winded speech on the Senate floor criticizing Trump for his constant attacks against the media. Flake even went as far as comparing the president’s rhetoric to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Ward calls on both Republicans and Democrats to condemn Flake’s behavior.
“It’s really despicable that Jeff Flake used the privilege of the U.S. Senate floor to attack our president and compare him to a brutal maniacal dictator from the Soviet Union. That’s why I’ve challenged everyone running for his seat, the seat that he currently occupies; it’s actually the people’s seat, to condemn these remarks. Republicans and Democrats should call him out for this behavior,” she said.
Ward’s political opponents for the Republican primary for Arizona’s U.S. Senate are former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.).
In a recent OH Predictive Insights (OHPI) poll, McSally currently holds the lead at 31%, Arpaio comes close behind at 29%, while Ward fell to 25%.