Democratic presidential candidates should remember that while most Americans want to treat immigrants fairly, they also want secure borders and will be wary of plans that go too far to the left where border control and other issues are concerned, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday.
"When we talk about deprioritizing the deportation of those who are apprehended at the border or decriminalizing illegal immigration, I know that we're going way too far to the left of the American consensus on where we should be on this," Johnson told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"You just cannot have a policy where a Border Patrol agent arrests someone at the border and says, in effect, you get to stay here unless you commit a crime."
Johnson, who served under former President Barack Obama, said he's a "loyal Democrat" who wants a candidate from his party to win the 2020 election, but "to do that, we've got to appeal to the wide consensus out there on immigration and a lot of other issues."
The former secretary also said he believes candidates should have an affirmative position on national security, but he does not agree with those who call for the complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Instead, he'd like the U.S. to keep a force in place to ensure there is a more stable government.
"I think we have to continue some level of presence there to keep the American people safe," said Johnson. "I agree that when you're talking about a candidate for president, it should be America first. Our national interests [come] first, and one of the ways to do that is through alliances ... I think we need to maintain some level of presence in Afghanistan to ensure that al Qaida or the Islamic State does not establish a caliphate there."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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