Sanctuary cities like New York City and Chicago are becoming overwhelmed by immigrants because they were "virtue-signaling for so long" and now, moves to set limits on the people who have arrived there won't work, Pinal County Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb, a U.S. Senate candidate, said on Newsmax Sunday.
"Now all these people are coming here," Lamb told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Look, the majority of them don't stay in Arizona and maybe they stay a little bit in Texas, but if I were to interview 10 people, they're all going somewhere else, particularly to Chicago, to New York."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week imposed a curfew at four migrant shelters and said he would like to extend it to other shelters in the city, reported The New York Post, but Lamb told Newsmax such moves won't solve anything.
"It's not fixing the problem," he said. "It's only putting a Band-Aid on it. What we need to be doing is securing our southern border."
National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto, also on the program, disputed claims made by President Joe Biden that the border has been open for at least the past 10 years.
"The easiest way I can explain it to a lot of individuals is, look, I love my neighbors and my door is open to assist my neighbors if they need help, but I want them to knock on that door and I want to decide when and how people come into my home," Del Cueto said. "Under the current administration, they removed all doors and they said, You know, you can come in ... and that is the difference."
He added that he hasn't met anyone, on the right or left side of the aisle who would not agree that they want people to feel secure in their homes, and I haven't met anybody, whether they're on the right side of the aisle or the left side of the aisle, that would not agree that they want you to feel secure in their homes. It should be no different with our nation's borders."
Lamb, meanwhile, said he agrees that the current administration's rhetoric was what has caused the immigration problem, while under former President Donald Trump, policies such as "Remain in Mexico" combined to bring a successful border plan.
"This is just not working," he said. "It's unsustainable. We need to give our Border Patrol agents a life preserver by getting rid of Joe Biden, [Alejandro] Mayorkas, and the rest of them."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com