A man who came to the United States illegally said he supports President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
Hilario Yanez arrived in the country illegally when he was a child. He’s one of the so-called Dreamers who is protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program.
“The president is living up to his moral duties, which is to protect this country. He has every right to ask for border security. Every past president has done this, it’s nothing new,” he said during an appearance on Fox News.
In an op-ed for Fox, Yanez wrote that he’s a supporter of Trump.
“It might surprise you to know that I’m also a supporter of President Trump. I believe it is vital that we focus on America’s safety first and find the necessary resources for the Border Patrol to do its job effectively, while still giving people like me a chance to stay in the only country we’ve ever called home and loved,” Yanez wrote.
“I understand that America can’t let everyone who wants to come into this country enter, nor can the U.S. allow illegal drugs to flow freely across the border. As a result, I support the president’s call for a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. And I understand that he has promised to build a border wall or fence and feels duty-bound to fulfill his promise,” he added.
Yanez said he supports a compromise that was floated by the president last year that would see Democrats get one of their issues, amnesty for the Dreamers, in exchange for Trump getting one of his issues, funding for the wall.
“This is a reasonable and obvious compromise—give the president something he wants, and give immigrant advocates something we want,” he wrote.
During his appearance on Fox, he said that he hopes both sides can come together to reach an agreement.
“In order to give you have to get and fortunately there are opportunities to compromise and have both parties come together so we can have a huge win for the American people,” he said after being asked what his message was for the Democrats.
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President Trump flew to the southern border on Jan. 10, after he met with Congressional leaders on Wednesday to try to end the partial government shutdown.
After Democrat leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told him she wouldn’t agree to fund the wall, he left the meeting.
Trump told reporters before he flew to Texas that “the Republicans are extremely united” on continuing the shutdown until funding is approved for the wall.
Democrats have insisted that a wall isn’t the proper solution for the border crisis but Trump said that’s just not true.
“You can have all the technology in the world. I’m a professional at technology. But if you don’t have a steel barrier or a wall of some kind—strong, powerful—you’re going to have human trafficking; you’re going to have drugs pouring across the border; you’re going to have MS-13 and the gangs coming in,” he said.
He also said that if a deal isn’t reached, he will declare a national emergency.
“I would like to do the deal through Congress, and because it makes sense to do it through Congress,” he said. “But the easy route for me would have been call a national emergency and do it. This is a crisis. You have human trafficking. You have drugs. You have criminals coming in. You have gangs, MS-13. We’re taking them out by the thousand and bringing them back.”