Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, issued a blunt message to illegal immigrants and their supporters protesting deportations: "Follow the law" or "go home." His comments came Monday during an appearance on Newsmax as demonstrations erupted across the country.
"You need to go home," Roy said during an interview on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
Roy's remarks came as protests, organized mainly through social media, intensified in cities across the United States. Demonstrators have blocked Los Angeles freeways, clashed with Phoenix law enforcement, and rallied in Houston and Dallas.
"We need to stand strong and make clear that this is for people who follow the law," Roy said.
"There are people waiting in lines who have followed the law. There are people here who have followed the law.
"You don't get to disregard our laws, come here, use our resources, use our schools, and then take to the streets with Mexican flags because we're daring to enforce the law," he said.
"The president is right. We need to create a new Western Hemisphere initiative, sort of.
"They call it the Trump doctrine of the 21st century, where we have pushed out the cartels, pushed out China, reestablish the rule of law, grow the economy South, grow the economy in South America, make it where there's less pressure to come here," Roy said.
The congressman criticized both Republicans and Democrats for failing to address immigration issues over the past two decades, arguing that special interests have allowed the system to deteriorate.
"Stop allowing people to come here and feed off of American taxpayers in the name of cheap labor. The Chamber of Commerce and all of the people that for the last two decades — they own it, whether they were Republicans or Democrats," he said.
The Texas congressman also defended President Donald Trump's immigration policies, including his executive order on birthright citizenship. Roy argued that the order was constitutional and signaled a necessary shift in immigration enforcement.
"And importantly, I think what we saw with the president with respect to birthright citizenship is a really important message," he said.
"President Trump is breaking all that down because it's not about party. It's about the country."
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