In 2011, when then-Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, he spoke passionately from the debate stage against the US government having a fence at the US-Mexico border. “I think this fence business,” said Paul at a debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, “is designed, and may well be used, against us and keep us in.” “In economic turmoil, the people want to leave with their capital and there’s capital controls and there’s people control,” continued Paul, “so, every time you think of a fence keeping all those bad people out, think about those fences maybe being used against us.”
With President Donald Trump saying the United States government will remain partially shut down until Congress delivers to him money to pay for wall building at the US-Mexico border, Paul has again been asked about his thoughts regarding such a wall or fence, this time in a Tuesday CNBC television interview. Again, Paul offered a strong rebuke of the idea, with an emphasis on the potential of the barrier — be it a fence or a wall — being used against Americans.
Paul declares in the Tuesday interview, much like he did on the debate stage years earlier, “I don’t want to wall people in, and I don’t want to wall people out.” Instead of a wall, Paul proposes, to deal with immigration concerns, removing both welfare incentives and an “easy road to citizenship” for people who come to America.
Watch Paul’s wall comments in the CNBC interview here:
