1
00:00:06,773 --> 00:00:10,344
>> The ICE surge is ending
in Minnesota. White House

2
00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:13,614
borders are Tom Homan
announcing the move as U.S.

3
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,484
Senate Democrats vote to
block funding for homeland

4
00:00:17,551 --> 00:00:20,487
security over demands for
stricter rules of

5
00:00:20,554 --> 00:00:23,824
engagement for immigration
agents. Also this week, the

6
00:00:23,891 --> 00:00:27,561
House passes new election
rules aimed at preventing

7
00:00:27,628 --> 00:00:30,230
noncitizens from voting.
Tonight, we're joined by

8
00:00:30,297 --> 00:00:32,766
Republican U.S.
Representative Scott

9
00:00:32,833 --> 00:00:35,435
Fitzgerald from Wisconsin's
fifth congressional

10
00:00:35,502 --> 00:00:37,004
district. And Congressman,
thanks very much for being

11
00:00:37,070 --> 00:00:39,540
here.
>> Good to be with you.

12
00:00:39,606 --> 00:00:42,743
>> So a busy week, as
always in Washington.

13
00:00:42,809 --> 00:00:45,245
What's your reaction to the
immigration enforcement

14
00:00:45,312 --> 00:00:49,783
surge ending in Minnesota?
>> I mean, I think the

15
00:00:51,618 --> 00:00:55,889
president handled it very
well. Tom Homan has become

16
00:00:55,956 --> 00:00:59,960
a figure that, quite
honestly, is very well

17
00:01:00,827 --> 00:01:04,398
trusted by both sides of
the aisle. If you go back

18
00:01:04,464 --> 00:01:07,100
even to the Obama
administration, the

19
00:01:07,167 --> 00:01:11,572
president had a
relationship with Tom Homan.

20
00:01:11,638 --> 00:01:15,042
And and ever since then, he
has been obviously a figure

21
00:01:15,108 --> 00:01:17,778
that's high profile. But I
think what the president

22
00:01:17,845 --> 00:01:22,182
did there made a lot of
sense. De-escalate, bring

23
00:01:22,249 --> 00:01:26,220
down the temperature. Let's
let's figure out how to do

24
00:01:26,286 --> 00:01:30,224
a better job of this. And
so far it's it seemed to

25
00:01:30,290 --> 00:01:32,793
have worked well.
>> So how would you grade

26
00:01:32,860 --> 00:01:35,062
the overall operation
making mention here? Of

27
00:01:35,128 --> 00:01:37,798
course. Of the two U.S.
citizens killed by agents

28
00:01:37,865 --> 00:01:41,768
in the midst of it?
>> Yeah, both obviously

29
00:01:43,036 --> 00:01:47,774
very unfortunate incidents.
I think it did show that

30
00:01:47,841 --> 00:01:51,845
the idea that if you were
going to go into any

31
00:01:52,746 --> 00:01:55,215
community in the United
States and you were going

32
00:01:55,282 --> 00:02:00,287
to receive resistance from
local law enforcement, or

33
00:02:02,389 --> 00:02:06,493
if there was going to be
kind of this this situation

34
00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:11,131
where Ice was not really
operating under the idea

35
00:02:12,199 --> 00:02:15,736
that they were going to be
able to go in and apprehend

36
00:02:15,802 --> 00:02:20,574
people using some type of
detain order, then what you

37
00:02:20,641 --> 00:02:23,544
would end up with is this
back and forth in the

38
00:02:23,610 --> 00:02:27,848
streets. And and certainly
that wasn't productive. So,

39
00:02:27,915 --> 00:02:31,752
you know, unfortunately the
border was open for four

40
00:02:31,818 --> 00:02:35,088
years under the Biden
administration. And one of

41
00:02:35,155 --> 00:02:37,758
the things that President
Trump ran on was that he

42
00:02:37,824 --> 00:02:40,894
was going to apprehend
those that had criminal

43
00:02:40,961 --> 00:02:45,666
records and and deport them.
And, you know, but how that

44
00:02:45,732 --> 00:02:48,969
was going to be
accomplished is as varied

45
00:02:49,036 --> 00:02:51,705
from state to state.
>> Do you feel as though

46
00:02:51,772 --> 00:02:55,542
law enforcement should be
better at de-escalating a

47
00:02:55,609 --> 00:02:57,477
special, especially after
seeing what happened in

48
00:02:57,544 --> 00:03:00,881
Minnesota?
>> Well, I think we're in

49
00:03:02,482 --> 00:03:06,153
uncharted waters, right? I
mean, this is not something

50
00:03:06,220 --> 00:03:10,657
that the average law
enforcement agency has

51
00:03:10,724 --> 00:03:15,562
really dealt with in the
past. If if there was not

52
00:03:15,629 --> 00:03:19,666
such a high number of
illegals and those with

53
00:03:19,733 --> 00:03:22,402
criminal records, it's very
easy for them to simply go

54
00:03:22,469 --> 00:03:26,540
to any county jail where
they've already been

55
00:03:26,607 --> 00:03:30,878
apprehended. And there
would just be a turnover to

56
00:03:30,944 --> 00:03:35,449
to Ice. And other than in
some sanctuary cities, that

57
00:03:35,516 --> 00:03:38,685
is the way it's always
happened. Now there's a

58
00:03:38,752 --> 00:03:41,588
much higher number of
illegals in the states

59
00:03:41,655 --> 00:03:45,325
right now than we've ever
seen before. But, you know,

60
00:03:45,392 --> 00:03:49,162
that process has always
served us well, but we find

61
00:03:49,229 --> 00:03:51,598
ourselves in in a different
position right now.

62
00:03:51,665 --> 00:03:54,434
>> Meanwhile, the stopgap
funding for Homeland

63
00:03:54,501 --> 00:03:57,104
Security expires at
midnight. What's your

64
00:03:57,171 --> 00:03:59,973
response to Democrats
demands for new rules for

65
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,743
Ice and other agents,
including not wearing masks

66
00:04:02,809 --> 00:04:06,947
and requiring the use of
judicial warrants?

67
00:04:08,348 --> 00:04:11,285
>> Yeah, I mean, I think if
you look at the laundry

68
00:04:11,351 --> 00:04:15,155
list of things that Senator
Chuck Schumer had rolled

69
00:04:15,222 --> 00:04:20,093
out from the Senate, it was
kind of dead on arrival in

70
00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,230
the House. So there would
have had to have been some

71
00:04:23,297 --> 00:04:27,100
other type of negotiation.
And and it appears that the

72
00:04:27,167 --> 00:04:30,337
white House did kind of
make a run at it, that they

73
00:04:30,404 --> 00:04:33,307
were trying to pull
together a list that might

74
00:04:33,373 --> 00:04:37,945
have been acceptable, but
the ten or so items that

75
00:04:39,012 --> 00:04:42,583
that the Senate had laid
out was not going to happen.

76
00:04:42,649 --> 00:04:47,120
So we find ourselves in a
unbelievable situation. I

77
00:04:47,187 --> 00:04:50,424
think, of the Democrats
kind of holding this up

78
00:04:50,490 --> 00:04:54,728
again, and a very small
government shutdown related

79
00:04:54,795 --> 00:04:58,198
to homeland security, which
makes no sense because Ice

80
00:04:58,265 --> 00:05:02,002
is funded. It was funded in
the one big beautiful bill.

81
00:05:02,069 --> 00:05:04,438
There's still excess
dollars there. Homeland

82
00:05:04,505 --> 00:05:08,141
security says they can
operate for months with

83
00:05:08,208 --> 00:05:11,845
with Ice being able to
still accomplish their jobs.

84
00:05:11,912 --> 00:05:15,415
But yet you're shutting
down things like the Secret

85
00:05:15,482 --> 00:05:18,118
Service and you're shutting
down TSA at the airports,

86
00:05:18,185 --> 00:05:20,821
and you're shutting down
the Coast Guard operations.

87
00:05:20,888 --> 00:05:23,924
So there's all these other
provisions and parts of of

88
00:05:23,991 --> 00:05:27,961
Homeland Security that are
going to be left unfunded.

89
00:05:28,028 --> 00:05:31,031
And, and they all run out
of money at different times.

90
00:05:31,098 --> 00:05:35,469
So it's this really is the
the most political move

91
00:05:35,536 --> 00:05:38,438
we've seen so far, I think
from, from the Senate

92
00:05:38,505 --> 00:05:40,707
Democrats.
>> Would you like to see a

93
00:05:40,774 --> 00:05:45,345
surge of immigration
enforcement in Wisconsin?

94
00:05:46,313 --> 00:05:48,549
>> I've been asked that
question specifically about

95
00:05:48,615 --> 00:05:52,753
like the city of Milwaukee.
I don't I don't think it's

96
00:05:52,819 --> 00:05:57,391
been necessary. I know some
people disagree with that,

97
00:05:57,457 --> 00:06:01,295
but we just don't see the
numbers that we've seen

98
00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:04,298
kind of in some of these
other areas. But I know

99
00:06:04,364 --> 00:06:08,101
Madison is a sanctuary city
there. There doesn't seem

100
00:06:08,168 --> 00:06:11,839
to be the level of of
certainly, I guess,

101
00:06:14,074 --> 00:06:16,443
animosity between local
levels of government and,

102
00:06:16,510 --> 00:06:20,113
and Ice being able to do
their job. So it just

103
00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:23,050
doesn't appear to me that,
that we would be at the top

104
00:06:23,116 --> 00:06:26,954
of the list where where
maybe those Ice agents may,

105
00:06:27,020 --> 00:06:31,491
may end up. So it's it's
kind of, I guess a wait and

106
00:06:32,125 --> 00:06:35,529
see, but but doesn't,
doesn't appear to be the a

107
00:06:35,596 --> 00:06:38,866
good a good thing for
Wisconsin and I think maybe

108
00:06:38,932 --> 00:06:42,069
not necessary for Ice.
>> On elections legislation

109
00:06:42,135 --> 00:06:46,640
ahead of the midterms. New
requirements would require

110
00:06:46,707 --> 00:06:50,410
proof of citizenship to
register and vote. Now,

111
00:06:50,477 --> 00:06:53,480
Democrats, of course, say
this is voter suppression

112
00:06:53,547 --> 00:06:57,918
and solution in search of a
problem, because

113
00:06:57,985 --> 00:07:01,121
non-citizen voting is a
small number. What about

114
00:07:01,188 --> 00:07:03,524
that?
>> I mean, I've been

115
00:07:04,091 --> 00:07:06,460
through this as majority
leader of the Wisconsin

116
00:07:06,527 --> 00:07:10,898
State Senate. I've now been
through it through numerous

117
00:07:10,964 --> 00:07:14,168
bills in the House of
Representatives. Listen, at

118
00:07:14,234 --> 00:07:17,104
the end of the day, 85% of
Americans think that you

119
00:07:17,171 --> 00:07:22,009
should have to present some
form of ID when you go vote.

120
00:07:22,075 --> 00:07:26,880
It's bipartisan support.
The the response from the

121
00:07:29,183 --> 00:07:33,654
other side of the aisle has
been, I think, almost

122
00:07:34,922 --> 00:07:39,326
laughable in that they
continue to just pretend

123
00:07:39,393 --> 00:07:43,330
like that, that type of
poll number or support for

124
00:07:43,397 --> 00:07:46,633
voter ID doesn't exist.
>> This is.

125
00:07:47,701 --> 00:07:50,137
>> There's no other reason
to support it other than

126
00:07:50,204 --> 00:07:52,339
people are not presenting
their their IDs at the

127
00:07:52,406 --> 00:07:54,074
polls.
>> Congressman, this is

128
00:07:54,141 --> 00:07:56,510
something more than that
though, right? It's a

129
00:07:56,577 --> 00:07:59,847
passport or a birth
certificate to register to

130
00:07:59,913 --> 00:08:04,251
vote, which is a higher bar
than just a photo ID.

131
00:08:05,219 --> 00:08:08,755
>> Yeah, I mean, there's
there's a lot of criticism

132
00:08:08,822 --> 00:08:10,991
from the other side of the
aisle. I mean, you can

133
00:08:11,058 --> 00:08:14,595
nitpick any of these bills
by saying that you're

134
00:08:14,661 --> 00:08:17,197
asking for more information
other than a driver's

135
00:08:17,264 --> 00:08:20,033
license. But in most states,
I mean, the documents that

136
00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:23,036
you need to provide to get
that driver's license,

137
00:08:23,103 --> 00:08:26,440
unless there's a full out
kind of anybody who shows

138
00:08:26,507 --> 00:08:30,410
up, gets that, gets that
initial document, they fill

139
00:08:30,477 --> 00:08:34,781
it out and they're granted
a driver's license. It is

140
00:08:34,848 --> 00:08:39,353
still some form of ID and I,
and I'm not saying that,

141
00:08:39,419 --> 00:08:43,056
you know, the bill, the
save act, which which I

142
00:08:43,123 --> 00:08:46,927
think is well done and has
been crafted correctly, I,

143
00:08:46,994 --> 00:08:50,464
you know, I've never been a
big supporter of just

144
00:08:50,531 --> 00:08:53,100
federalizing these election
laws. I think it's

145
00:08:53,166 --> 00:08:55,802
important to keep some of
these things decentralized.

146
00:08:55,869 --> 00:08:59,273
So for me, somebody that
served in the state

147
00:08:59,339 --> 00:09:02,109
legislature for so long, I
mean, there is part of this

148
00:09:02,176 --> 00:09:05,279
discussion in which I'm
saying, listen, this is

149
00:09:05,345 --> 00:09:09,183
what American people need
to believe in the election

150
00:09:09,249 --> 00:09:12,452
cycle, especially in
Wisconsin, where I run into

151
00:09:12,519 --> 00:09:15,923
constituents all the time
that still think that the

152
00:09:15,989 --> 00:09:18,258
2020 election was
manipulated by rules

153
00:09:18,325 --> 00:09:21,428
related to Covid. It
happens all the time. I run

154
00:09:21,495 --> 00:09:23,630
into people all the time
that talk to me about that.

155
00:09:23,697 --> 00:09:27,968
This would instill some
what I what I think some

156
00:09:28,035 --> 00:09:30,771
concrete evidence that
people that show up at the

157
00:09:30,838 --> 00:09:33,640
polls have some type of
document in their hand,

158
00:09:33,707 --> 00:09:37,211
some type of, of driver's
license in their hand to

159
00:09:37,277 --> 00:09:39,146
prove that they're a
citizen and prove that

160
00:09:39,213 --> 00:09:40,948
they're a wisconsinite and
they should be voting in

161
00:09:41,014 --> 00:09:44,484
that election.
>> Congressman Scott