Advocates for a severe clampdown on illegal immigration have expressed opposition to President-elect Donald Trump's consideration of Rep. Michael McCaul for the position of secretary of homeland security, The Washington Times reports.
Hard-liners on illegal immigration say that McCaul, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was ineffective against President Obama's lax enforcement of immigration laws.
They cite as a prime example the 2015 Secure Our Borders First Act, which he co-authored. Critics slammed it as a fig leaf to Democrats that included tough language but did not address the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC President William Gheen told the Times that Trump should not "reward a deceptive pro-amnesty lawmaker like Michael McCaul with a Cabinet position. That would be very disappointing to all of us that believed his campaign promises to secure our borders and deport millions of illegal immigrants under current U.S. laws."
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which encourages a crackdown on illegal immigration, emphasized that McCaul "has been quite moderate and conventional on border security issues, eschewing any bold moves to address the problems created by the Obama administration's policies."
The Dallas News reported that following his meeting with Trump on Tuesday, McCaul referred to the attack at Ohio State University a day earlier to emphasize the need to upgrade border security to keep the country safe.
"I articulated to the president how we need to close off all terror pathways into the United States," McCaul said. "We need to secure our borders and secure the United States from these terrorists coming into the United States and perpetrating acts of terror like what we saw yesterday. It's a reminder that the terror threat's real."
McCaul has also made cybersecurity a top priority as and sponsored a bill as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee that would codify a plan for responding to cybersecurity incidents, The News & Observer reported.