After Williamson Herald reported that State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) was the only participant in the Monday debate for Republican candidates in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District to only support deporting illegal immigrants with a criminal record, the candidate on Wednesday told The Tennessee Star that anyone in the country illegally, “must be identified and processed under federal immigration law.”
While The Herald on Tuesday said Barrett was the only candidate of the seven who participated who, “supported deporting only undocumented immigrants with criminal records,” he told The Star the reporting did not reflect his views on immigration.
He stated, “My view on immigration is aligned with President Trump’s,” who Barrett said began by ending illegal immigration at the southern border.
“Congress must codify President Trump’s border policies completely to make sure future administrations do not resort to the same failed open border policies that made every state a border state,” said Barrett.
Barrett told The Star that his positive answer during the debate actually came after he was asked if he supported deporting criminal illegal immigrants.
“That is what President Trump and Tom Homan are currently executing with ICE enforcement policies,” said Barrett. “That is what I raised my hand for.”
He told The Star, “Finally, all persons here illegally, whether law-abiding or not, must be identified and processed under federal immigration law. If deportation is appropriate under the law, the DOJ needs to prosecute those cases and process those deportations,” before calling on Congress to work with the White House, “to finally implement meaningful immigration reform to fix a broken system that has been kicked down the road and avoided for the last half a century.”
The other candidates who attended the debate, who The Herald reported all were in favor deporting all illegal immigrants, regardless of their criminal record, included State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), former Tennessee state official Matt Van Epps, pardoned January 6 prisoner Stewart Parks, businessman Stuart Cooper, former Metro Nashville Police detective Joe Leurs, and Mason Foley, according to the outlet.
The Star sent inquiries to candidates who did not attend the debate, including State Representative Lee Reeves (R-Franklin), businessman Adolph Agbeko Dagan, former Tennessee Senate policy researcher Tres Wittum, and Montgomery County Insurance Commissioner Jason Knight, to ascertain whether they supported deporting all illegal immigrants, or only those convicted of crimes.
Reeves told The Star, “The answer is simple: deport all illegal aliens, end the Illegal Alien Birthright Citizenship Loophole, and defund sanctuary cities, states, and counties. These are all positions I have taken before anyone else in this campaign.”
He added, “Illegal immigration is a giant drain on taxpayer dollars and the economy. We cannot truly begin to pay down the national debt or rein in federal government spending until we help President Trump end illegal immigration permanently. Deport all illegal aliens.”
Reeves has said that he will introduce legislation ending birthright citizenship for children born to non-citizens while on American soil if elected to Congress.
Knight and Wittum did not respond prior to press time, while Dagan told The Star, “Only those with a criminal record.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
ALL illegals, including those overstaying Visa’s need to be deported. I hear the argument that those illegals having been in the USA for many years should be left alone. My thought on that is that those individuals have had all of those years to leave the USA but chose to continue to thumb their noses at our immigration laws. That is not endearing to me.
How much money has representative Reeves made from renting to illegals and not American citizens. Now says move them all back