Rep. Tom O'Halleran urges preparedness in protecting southern border

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COVID policies during a border crisis

Rep. Tom O'Halleran expresses concerns about COVID-19 on both sides of the border during the southern border crisis on 'Special Report.'

Rep. Tom O'Halleran emphasized the importance of preparation in border protection Tuesday on "Special Report."

REP. O'HALLERAN: We have to protect our border. I come from a border state. We also have to consider the humanitarian conditions of those people [who] are currently and [have] been at the border for quite some time, and refugees coming across. But the bottom line is to be prepared for all of that. And when I was a police officer in Chicago, we overprepared. We identified the threat or issue, … whether it was a peaceful demonstration or whatever, and made sure we had the resources available to be able to address that situation. In my evaluation, I haven't seen that yet. 

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Arizona's [COVID-19] infection rate just went up 130-some percent. States around our country are going up considerably. And so I can't imagine why the CDC did what they did. And I definitely can't imagine why a judge would intervene at this point in time. I have a true concern about people. But we have to have that concern on both sides of the border. I have cities and towns and municipalities that are threatened, and they can be overwhelmed quickly because they are small entities. And … when I discuss the issues with people down there, I said, "What about the processing? What do we do about ten people now to get trained and stuff? What happens when you have to do a few hundred a day at one location and transport them by bus? Do you have enough busses?" And none of the answers came out as answers that you could say, "Okay, we're ready." 

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