Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) says the Obama administration must beef up security on the southern border of the U.S. because of the threat posed by terrorists and the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
"You simply have to secure the border and make sure that people we don't want coming in the country whether they have Ebola or they're terrorists, name your terrorist organization, they're coming in through the southern border. This isn't that complicated," he said on Sean Hannity's radio show Wednesday.
Hunter came under fire last week when he claimed that 10 Islamic State extremists were apprehended trying to cross the border. The assertion was quickly debunked by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as a fellow Republican in Congress, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah).
"Mark that as one score against me, I should've said al Qaeda terrorists," Hunter clarified on the show.
"This last fiscal year, you had 150,000 to 170,000 'got aways' that's what the border patrol calls them, 'got aways' got into the United States. That's people from all over, from Lebanon, from Yemen, from Somalia, from Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Morocco, name your nation they got into the U.S.," Hunter said. "I'm getting my information from guys on the ground, not appointees from the administration."
He then claimed that those infected with Ebola could be next to cross the border, citing Gen. John F. Kelly, the commander of U.S. Southern Command, who made comments last week that those infected with the deadly virus could make a "mass migration" to the U.S.
"If they get into South and Central America, they're going to be crossing the southern border, period," Hunter said, "because if people start fleeing these African countries they're going to be going to other places beyond the United States."
"The administration's narrative doesn't match reality. It doesn't match reality on Ebola, it doesn't match reality on the southern border, it doesn't match reality when it concerns ISIS or any al Qaeda terrorist group overseas," Hunter said. "This is nothing new. They aren't going to fix it. They aren't proactive in any way whatsoever, but they have a narrative and they are going to stick to it no matter what reality shows us."
Hunter joins a number of politicians who have pushed for the border to be secured following the Ebola outbreak, including GOP U.S. Senate candidates Scott Brown in New Hampshire and Thom Tillis in North Carolina.
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