Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says there’s a solution to filling the millions of job openings across the United States, and it’s coming through the southern border.
During a town hall in New Hampshire, Christie said the U.S. should screen migrants crossing the border for compatibility with “6 million jobs” that need filling nationwide.
That’s a better solution than killing them or expecting Mexico to pay for a wall like Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump have suggested, he said.
“I want to have a system that says, ‘Where are the industries where those 6 million jobs are?’ And if you have the ability to do that work, come in. We’ll give you a work visa, you come and work. You register, you pay your taxes and as you go through the normal course of working here, like anybody else with a green card or that kind of option, you eventually can work to become a citizen,” he said.
“We’ve got to be real about this. I’ve heard Gov. DeSantis say he’s going to shoot people stone cold dead at the border. Now look, some people may like that. It’s not happening. He says he’s going to invade Mexico. Really? This is the guy who doesn’t want us to send arms to Ukraine because he doesn’t want to be involved in war, but he’s going to send an army into Mexico?
“Come on guys, that’s like saying we’re going to build a big, beautiful wall across the entire border and (get) Mexico to pay for it. It sounds good in the debate, but it is never going to happen. These guys from Florida.”
Christie was referencing three policy proposals DeSantis voiced while on the campaign trail.
The first involves one of DeSantis’ more morbid slogans, and one he’s used to fundraise, in which he vowed to enact a policy to execute Mexican cartel members and drug smugglers if they cross the border.
DeSantis has not, as Christie asserted, said he plans to do the same with all illegal immigrants.
DeSantis also pledged to send U.S. Special Forces into Mexico to confront drug cartels, not undertake a full invasion, but he has opposed sending arms to Ukraine, arguing that doing so “runs the risk of escalation.”
Christie’s criticism of Trump, meanwhile, was more accurate. Trump indeed pledged to erect a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border. It was one of his signature campaign promises in 2016. By the time begrudgingly left office in January 2021, 452 miles of it had actually been built, mostly replacing old fencing, leaving 1,502 miles undone.
And Mexico didn’t pay a cent, despite the former President’s promise to the contrary.
Christie — who is polling in sixth place for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination — made a similar border policy proposal Wednesday without invoking the former President or Florida’s Governor.
Apprehend and detain is not a long-term solution to immigration.
We need a merit-based immigration system to help fill the six million open jobs we have in this country.
Stop incentivizing the illegal crossings we’re seeing now, and let’s give people a legal way to come to… pic.twitter.com/sr3mv95i9c
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) October 4, 2023
“In the last 11 months, we’re averaging 200,000 apprehensions a month at the border,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “We are not going to be able to apprehend and detain our way out of this problem. … So, let’s see which jobs are open, who has skills to fill them, and let’s give people a legal way to come to this country to help our economy rather than incentivizing the illegal crossings that we’re seeing now.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 9.6 million job openings nationwide by the end of August.
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