Miami Mayor Francis Suarez repeatedly refused to say if he supports building a wall on the U.S. southern border to help stem the tide of millions of illegal aliens pouring into the country under the Biden administration during an interview on Monday.
Suarez made the remarks during a Fox Business interview with host Stuart Varney when asked if he would continue building the wall, something that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to do.
“The border is an enormous issue,” Suarez said. “We have 80,000 to 90,000 Americans dying every single year from fentanyl that’s coming through our border that’s being pumped into our country from China.”
Varney pressed Suarez again on the matter, asking, “Well — will you build a wall and put the ones who are here already — put them to work? Will you do those two things?”
Suarez again sidestepped talking about the wall, adding that he would “dedicate whatever the resources that are necessary.”
“Also, discussing it with the law enforcement partners that are on the ground to make sure that our border is secure, whatever that is, I will do it,” he added.
“The second part is the people that are here, as you said, you know, everyone agrees that those people cannot be … teleported out of the country,” he continued. “So, we have to find a way to understand who they are, to make sure that they’re not national security threats, to make sure that they’re paying their taxes and, yes, to give them some sort of legal status so that small businesses across this country can rely on them.”
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WATCH: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez twice denies expressly supporting a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico if he's elected president pic.twitter.com/Ypg4u7cCFK
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) June 19, 2023
While former President Donald Trump’s administration did build 450 miles of border wall, the overwhelming majority of that was replacing old barriers. Approximately 85 miles of new border wall — 52 miles of new primary wall and 33 miles of new secondary wall — was built in areas that had no preexisting border barriers, according to a press release that the Trump campaign touted from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
FACT CHECK: President Trump built over 450 MILES of new border wall. #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/KDPMFMWpbS
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 11, 2023
Suarez previously attended protests of some of Trump’s immigration policies and “said he does not plan to direct the Miami police department to enforce a law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that makes it a felony to willingly transport an undocumented person,” according to local media.