Exclusive: “Wake up and smell the coffee”: Congress backs Trump on Colombian pressure campaign
"The rule of law and the law of the jungle have returned," HFAC Chairman Brian Mast told the Washington Reporter.
When Colombia’s left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, said last week that his country would not accept flights of Colombian nationals returning from the U.S., where they had been illegally, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded immediately. The U.S. announced a series of retaliatory measures — including that the “U.S. Embassy Colombia is closing the visa section,” which was first reported by the Washington Reporter.
Petro reportedly reversed his opposition after Trump threatened to levy massive tariffs on Colombia. Many in Congress praised Trump’s swift action to the Reporter.
“We don’t allow our people to cross your borders illegally, don’t allow yours to cross ours illegally,” Rep. Brian Mast (R., Fla.), the new chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “If they do, work with us to clean up the mess. The rule of law and the law of the jungle have returned.”
Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.), who serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee with Mast, thanked Trump “for standing up for our national security and taking decisive action against those who stand in the way.”
For some in Congress, Trump’s latest moves hit close to home. “Trump is right,” Rep. Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.) told the Reporter, noting that her “dad’s wife is Colombian. He follows it closely and is thrilled with Trump’s directive.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio), who was born in Colombia before migrating to America legally, added that “the Socialist President of Colombia failed to understand that President Trump isn’t Joe Biden.”
Trump was “absolutely right to hold Colombia accountable for refusing to accept their illegal criminal migrants who are harming Americans,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) added. “This is the America-First leadership that Americans voted for.”
“President Trump’s actions in response to Colombia are absolutely on the money, but the fact that he even has to take these actions in the first place show how critical it is for Congress to pick up the pace and start assisting the President’s deportation effort,” a Senate GOP aide told the Reporter. “This is just another reminder that the Republican reconciliation package must include changes in law that disincentive migrants from coming here illegally in the first place, namely by denying them access to taxpayer funded welfare efforts.”
Some members of the Senate Steering Committee have urged Senate leadership to put forth Sen. Mike Lee’s (R., Utah) America First Act, which would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving welfare benefits, in reconciliation.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R., Fla.), who has the largest Colombian-American community in America, said that “we have a new sheriff in town and his name is Donald J. Trump.”
“Colombia’s socialist president Gustavo Petro [had] better wake up and smell the coffee,” Gimenez added.
