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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., denied that on Sunday President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plan it could cost trillions of dollars, though he said there is no better investment than restoring the country’s safety and security.
Johnson made the comments during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about the border crisis and grocery prices, both issues that Trump says helped him win the election.
“I can’t think of a better dollar for dollar investment than restoring the safety and security of the country,” Johnson said. “We’ve had a wide open border for four years and millions and millions of people illegally. We have dangerous illegals in the country, criminals who have already committed crimes here, violent crimes against American citizens.”
The speaker cited crime and “the incalculable humanitarian cost in terms of fentanyl trafficking and deaths” in the US as important reasons to address border security, saying: “Getting rid of this criminal element … is something the American people want us to do.”
IMMIGRATION FALCONES URGES CONGRESS, TRUMP TO “GET STARTED IMMEDIATELY” ON MASS DEPORTATION PROMISE
President Trump tours a section of the border wall in San Luis, Arizona on June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
“The number one job of the federal government is to protect the public,” he said. “And when you have one very open border, you have no security, or even sovereignty, because of it. President Trump will keep his campaign promises and the promises we all made on the campaign trail. It costs money to do that. But there’s a small investment in terms of what it costs us.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday and said Trump’s mass deportation plan was a “small investment” in restoring safety and security to the country. (Getty Images, file)
Asked if the plan would come with a trillion-dollar price tag, Johnson dismissed the idea.
“It’s not going to cost trillions of dollars. I don’t think we know the dollar figure yet,” he said. “But I will tell you that the American people will support this effort. And we will start with the most dangerous elements. And you will see a dramatic change in the country because of it.”
Johnson did not provide a cost estimate for the deportation plan.
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respect grocery prices, Johnson said those costs will undoubtedly be reduced under Trump with a return to “fiscal sanity” and “common sense.”
Johnson said Congress and the Trump administration will “revive the economic engines” as during Trump’s first term, when lawmakers “reduced the tax burden on the American people, but more importantly, the regulatory burden” .
“That’s going to be a big issue for the next administration in this Congress, because if you free up red tape, you free up the free market again. And that’s good for everybody,” he said.
