Grand Canyon Times

Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers (LAW), appeared on the Grand Canyon Times Podcast to discuss a new poll conducted for his organization, which found that only 18% of Arizona voters say that the American Dream is “still attainable.” 

This episode is also available on Apple and Spotify.

Founded in 2022 by Cortes, LAW conducts research and develops proposals on public policies impacting American workers and the economy. Cortes is a political advisor and commentator. He previously traded global currencies and interest rates for 25 years for large international hedge funds. He has been an on-air broadcaster for CNBC, Fox News, and CNN. 

Following is a summary of the episode: 

• Why Cortes is Endorsing Donald Trump: Cortes discussed his brief support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's presidential bid. He said he is now endorsing Trump, citing Trump's landslide victory in the Iowa caucus.
• Internal GOP Dynamics: Cortes talks about the internal dynamics within the Republican Party, saying there is the need for unity and addition rather than division. 
• Midterm Elections: Cortes said he is disappointed in the 2022 midterm election results and said he believed the America First movement was ready to move on from Trump, but later realized that wasn't the case.
• Border Security and Economic Concerns: The podcast touches on border security and its economic implications. Cortes criticized President Biden's border policies, linking them to the decline in real wages and economic challenges for blue-collar workers. He said Texas for has taken independent action on border security and said there is a need for states like Texas to protect their citizens in the face of federal inaction.

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Full, unedited transcript of this episode:

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Grand Canyon Times podcast. I'm your host, Laila Ghulen. In this episode, we want to welcome back Steve Cortez. Steve is the founder of the American League of Workers. He is also a former advisor to President Donald Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Who momentarily stepped away to support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's bid for president, but has since shifted his support back to Trump, who overwhelmingly won by a landslide the Iowa caucus in January.

[00:00:31] Steve, welcome back. Layla, thank you for having me. Appreciate it. And yeah, speaking of welcome back, I've had some people in the Trump Orbit teased me with the song from Welcome Back Cotter, which I'm of the age where that hits me right in my wheelhouse. But hopefully it's not just welcome back to your podcast, but also to the Trump cause.

[00:00:46] Yes, indeed. And you're lucky that they've got a good sense of humor. Yes. Well, not everybody does. That's for sure. Not everybody does. I have found though that the people on this, I've not spoken to President Trump himself yet. I hope I get the chance to soon, but I have spoken to [00:01:00] a lot of the senior leadership on the team, on the reelection team, many of whom, of course, I know super well from the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

[00:01:06] And look, they clearly were very unhappy with my decision to go with Governor DeSantis, but they're equally thrilled for me to come back. And I think they realize that at this point, Donald Trump is the nominee, which I certainly have publicly stated and firmly believe, and that they need to be in the game of addition and not division, right?

[00:01:24] At this point, they need to be looking for allies, even if it's people who did something, frankly, to annoy them. Now, I will say Online, there's a lot of sort of rabid followers who are unwilling to forgive me or unwilling to welcome me back I hope over time we can convince even those folks, but we'll do our best Well, you know what?

[00:01:41] I think when someone recognizes the error of his ways There's a little bit of grace that we should dispense in the as far as your decision to come back No, but it that's all in jest but in seriousness, and I don't want to talk about The border and border security, but I do want to [00:02:00] talk about your opinion piece.

[00:02:01] It was recently published in real clear politics where you did fall on your sword a bit. And so I'm just curious why the about face, because while there were still always Trumpers, you did step away and quite publicly, but now you're coming back again. So, so why did you decide to change your Your side.

[00:02:22] Well, I did it because the facts have changed. I think when the facts on the ground change, if you have, if you're a reasonable, thoughtful person, you need to reevaluate. And that's what I did. And what I mean by that specifically, as I stated in the article, is that, and I look, I take no glee, Layla, in publicly admitting that I was wrong about something, particularly something as important as this.

[00:02:39] You know, so important for the country and certainly personally for me in my professional life. I was of the view roughly a year ago that the America First movement was ready to move on from Donald Trump in the wake of the 2022 midterms, which were massively disappointing. And I think all of us have to be honest about that on the political right.

[00:02:58] What we thought was going to be a red wave [00:03:00] turned into perhaps, you know, a pink trickle. And I thought after that. The one exception to what was otherwise an underwhelming night was Ron DeSantis. I think the best governor in America. I still believe that, by the way, that he's the best governor in America.

[00:03:13] And I thought that the America First movement, that the voters were ready to handle the mantle of leadership on to him. That is clearly not the case. And that was obvious to me, frankly, well before the Iowa caucus. And that's why back in October, I publicly left Team DeSantis. Now, I have been quiet about the race since that time because I promised to them, I thought I owed them my silence since I had worked specifically for Team DeSantis.

[00:03:38] I worked for the PAC rather than the campaign, but to most people, that's a distinction without a difference. I worked for Team DeSantis. And I just went quiet about that campaign. I started talking about a lot of political issues and other things in recent months, but in my, in my social media, in my media appearances, interviews, my writing, I did not talk about the race.

[00:03:56] And I promised team to Santa's I would not until the Iowa caucus. Now, once the Iowa [00:04:00] caucus is done, I'm free to. to speak my mind. And of course, the results for president Trump were absolutely overwhelming that he is the nominee that is very clear. And I understand why, you know, for very good reasons, as I also lay out in my opinion piece and I, for one am excited.

[00:04:16] I'm not excited about, as I said, about having to publicly admit I was wrong about something so important, but I am excited to once again, do whatever I can to advocate. for this amazing warrior for our country. This man who, even though he was president, is still an outsider, is still being persecuted by the ruling class, and is still the standard bearer of the America First movement and the Republican Party.

[00:04:37] And I think it's very important for all of us, and I implore those folks out there, like me, who supported other candidates, that this is time to unite. And coalesce, our enemies are not within our own circle. The political opponents that we need to prevail over are Joe Biden, the ruling class, Washington, DC, crony cabal, and we're not going to beat [00:05:00] them.

[00:05:00] We won't prevail in November if we don't unite very quickly and present that strong front against the people who are frankly ruining our country. Yeah. And I want to definitely dive into that in a moment here. But the last time you and I spoke, I do recall your self imposed gag order. And you did not announce that you were going to be coming back to the Trump campaign.

[00:05:23] But when you were supporting DeSantis and month after month during 2023, were you surprised? Were you shocked at all to see how support for him grew despite it? Every last hurdle that was thrown in his direction and how that really just got, I think, voters even more angry and more determined to stand by his side.

[00:05:45] Yeah, listen, I think that these indictments and I was very clear about that even when I was working for Ron DeSantis and when I was very public about this race. That those indictments are absolute shams. They are not prosecutions. They are persecutions of Donald Trump. I mean, [00:06:00] think about this sitting president, Joe Biden, who dares to say that we are the threat to democracy, that the deplorables or Donald Trump are the threat to democracy.

[00:06:08] He is trying to put his political opponent in jail. I mean, that is something that is totally unprecedented in American history. It's totally unprecedented in any advanced country in the world, for that matter. I mean, these are the kinds of things that happen in third world dictatorships. So, as these persecutions accelerated and rolled on, and unfortunately, as the frequency and pace of them intensified, the American people, Republican voters, increasingly rallied to Trump's side for very understandable reasons.

[00:06:36] Yes, and so, to answer your question, was I surprised? Absolutely, I was surprised how swiftly and fervently that support grew, but I'm also again, humble enough to recognize, okay, I'm wrong about something. The evidence is building in the other direction. And for that reason, I advised Governor DeSantis to get out of this race months and months ago privately.

[00:06:56] And he obviously did not, you know, take my advice. And when you make that [00:07:00] kind of advice to someone you work for, well, you've, Sort of talked herself out of a job. And so that was, but that's fine. Again, I was doing it on principle. I went with him for principle. I'm going back to the cause of president Trump for reasons of principle, because this country is too important and Biden is inflicting so much damage so quickly that I really fear, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic in this assessment.

[00:07:21] I fear that if there's another Biden term, and I think it would become a Biden Harris term, because I think she would have to take over. Relatively quickly, if there were a second Biden term, uh, that it could be so disastrous that some of the damage would be just irreversible. It would be a country which we no longer recognize.

[00:07:38] Yeah. So in this recent article, Real Clear Politics, it's titled Only Trump Can Save America. So what do you say to the Chris Christie's and the Mitt Romney's and the George W. Bush's of the world to coalesce as the left is so brilliant at doing and project that united front that we were just talking about?

[00:07:56] Well, to some extent, what I would say to them is get over yourselves, right? [00:08:00] And a lot of people, you mentioned Chris Christie, for example, somebody who I think was just absolutely in love with the sound of his own voice and was sort of ambition personified, right? And it's all about Chris rather than being about the country and the movement.

[00:08:12] So have the humility to realize that there's something bigger here. There's a bigger purpose of saving America. And also the The humility to realize that the people, the Republican voter base, is telling you something incredibly different now in actual live voting in the state of Iowa, but also in polling, which has been overwhelming for months and months.

[00:08:32] And to a degree that you can't just say, Oh, well, I think that this certain poll that I want to cherry pick is wrong. I mean, no, it has been very consistently showing. Donald Trump with a 40, 50, even 60 percent lead that Republican primary voters overwhelmingly want Trump to be their standard bearer. And to the point you made earlier that in fact, that lead has grown as the persecutions against him have intensified from the Biden DOJ.

[00:08:57] And from, uh, these [00:09:00] incredibly corrupt, usually Soros backed prosecutors in very blue cities in America. So I think it's, it's interesting, Leila, Biden says constantly that, uh, you know, we're going to fight for democracy. I actually agree with him on that point, although not at all for his rationale. Again, they are trying to put their political opponent, the most popular Republican in America, they are trying to put him in jail during an election year.

[00:09:23] I think if Americans, even Americans who aren't big fans of Trump, even Americans who wouldn't call themselves MAGA or America First, I think if they step back and take an objective assessment of that reality of what's going on right now, and in four different venues, it's not even that they're taking one shot at it, they're taking four at once.

[00:09:39] I think if they take an honest assessment of that reality. They will determine that there's something really nefarious going on here and that Joe Biden himself and his cronies, they are the threat to democracy. And the antidote, the answer is Donald Trump and our movement. And I think most people realize that.

[00:09:55] I think most people can read. The fine print or they're [00:10:00] so transparent. I don't think they're really fooling anybody, but they seem to be operating under delusions that they are leading people down a garden path and people are just eating up whatever they have to serve. But what about those who have yet to make their support public despite all the roads leading to Trump as the GOP nominee?

[00:10:17] And I'm including those who have since dropped out of the race besides Vivek Ramaswamy. Well, and listen, I encourage those who have already dropped out, of course, to fully get behind Trump in every way. And of course, I'm very clear, those still in the race, including Governor DeSantis, for whom I have enormous regard, I encourage all of them to get out of this race.

[00:10:37] I do not believe that there is a reasonable path for any of them to win. And I say that as somebody who has now participated in a very senior level on three successive Presidential campaign. So I think I have some authority some experience at the least to comment on this And i'm just being brutally honest for Nikki Haley for Ron DeSantis There is not a viable path for them to the [00:11:00] nomination.

[00:11:00] Nikki Haley may have a good new hampshire She may have a good night or two, but there's no viable path for either of them So I would encourage them as well as the folks who have already dropped out to realize the stakes here again I don't think we have The luxury, Layla, the luxury of being able to have to sustain further internal strife and further internal division.

[00:11:22] Instead, I think all of our resources, financial resources, our time, our energy, all of it needs to be devoted to winning in November and it's going to be Incredibly difficult. I mean, we know that we're a very polarized country. Most issues will split, you know, roughly 10 percent or so undecided. You pick the issue on, you know, on most sort of hot button things.

[00:11:43] Now, I believe when we present our case, uh, sufficiently, And persuasively, I think we become far better than a 45 percent movement, uh, when that's done. But we know that the, that the, the odds are, are roughly a coin flip going into the fall. I think slightly in Donald Trump's [00:12:00] favor right now, largely because of the persecutions from Joe Biden.

[00:12:03] But my point here is we need to work incredibly hard and we need unity to do that. And it's important for us to put what might be minor differences aside. It's important for us to read the room, to respect the voters and to march forward in a way in which we can win. And we'll only do that if we call us.

[00:12:22] Yeah. So what are some of these other people waiting for, such as Asa Hutchinson, Tim Scott, so on and so forth. I don't know. I can't speak for them, unfortunately. And some of them, of course, incredibly minor players. I wouldn't call Tim Scott that, of course. Sitting U. S. Senator and a very, you know, dynamic young leader.

[00:12:38] I happen to disagree with him on a lot of particulars, but clearly I have respect for his standing in the party and in the country. Asa Hutchinson, I think, on the contrary, is a relatively minor figure who most Americans, you know, wouldn't even know existed. If he were right in front of them, they wouldn't know.

[00:12:52] who he is. I don't know, honestly, what they were waiting for. I will tell you this. I think that there is still, among the voters, the decision is overwhelming [00:13:00] that the Republican Party has been transformed. That it is a populist, nationalist, pro worker party. And there is still, though, among the donor class, among sort of the influential officeholder and donor class of the Republican Party, there is still a yearning to hold on to the Republican Party.

[00:13:18] of the Bush era, or I should say the Bushes really, plural. And so I think for many of them, I don't know if that's the case with Hutchison, but for many folks like that, at least, there is still a belief that this new Republican party, this new populist Republican party is not reality, but it is, you know, again, and we keep proving that over and over.

[00:13:36] through voting, through polling, and what I would tell all of those folks, again, is let's say you're not fully on board with this populist vision. You don't fully agree with the tenets of America First. I would still stipulate to them, as a patriot, you have to realize how much damage Joe Biden is doing to this country.

[00:13:52] Particularly, and I know we're going to talk the border, but particularly as it pertains to American sovereignty and to American prosperity. To me, on those two [00:14:00] huge macro issues, the damage being done is so severe. The damage is accelerating, unfortunately, and given that reality, given the, the gravity of the moment right now in America, I would implore any folks out there, any patriots out there, to realize that whatever differences you have with Donald Trump or with the movement, they are minor compared to the stakes of losing our republic, which is a reality right now.

[00:14:28] Yeah. But going back to Asa, Tim and some of these others, wouldn't it show more strength? Wouldn't it show more leadership if they said, Hey, look, I'm putting my money behind this guy. What are they waiting for? Because once the New Hampshire primaries are over and done with after January 23rd, well, Nikki Haley is hell bent on debating President Trump, but you know, people will only really vote for her because.

[00:14:53] They're anti Trump going back to what are we waiting for? Why don't we show some [00:15:00] commitment and strength? And is it just a big fear of blowback? Is it a big fear of cancel culture or what? What is it? Why are some seeming a little bit afraid to their money? Well, some of it could be fear. Some of it could be for some of these folks.

[00:15:17] And again, I can't crawl inside their heads and know exactly what their motivations are, but some of it could be again, their own ego. I think in a lot of cases, That's really what's going on here. I think also if I want to really be cynical about it I think some of them and I certainly know this from the donor side I don't know it from the officeholder side from the politician side, but from the donor side Some of them are convinced that trump's legal troubles are at some point going to actually disqualify him And i've yet to hear a clear explanation from them of how that happens I I say, okay.

[00:15:42] Tell me that mechanism. Are you saying he's going to be put in jail? I mean that's not happening. But nonetheless the the Threat, I guess of all these ridiculous unjust indictments hanging over his head is enough for some of them to, to effectively either worry [00:16:00] or for those who can't stand Trump to hold out hope that somehow Trump is not actually going to be the nominee in the end.

[00:16:07] I think that defies logic, but yeah, correct. I think it's delusional, but it's certainly out there. At least I'm on the donor class. Yeah. All right. Well, either way you look at it, the right is definitely fired up. Voters in particular are making their wishes known that this country needs another four years of after an abysmal three years of Joe Biden, uh, president Biden's approval rating, the lowest for any us president in the past 15 years since George W just 33%.

[00:16:32] So failed policies, including ballooning debts and an outrageous student loan. Forgiveness plan for relations that have turned this country into a laughing stock and making us look weak open borders that has allowed at least 8 million. I'm always surprised to see some of these headlines that say three and a half plus another million.

[00:16:51] It's double or triple that number, but some reports excuse me, but all these illegal aliens coming from hither thither and [00:17:00] yawn flooding this country with a red carpet under their feet. I want to give you the floor and how. Places like Texas have decided to take matters into their own hands, despite the heavy pushback from the White House and how other states should or can, could follow suit.

[00:17:18] Right. So it's almost hard to describe the enormity of the situation now, because Biden's effectively open border policy has turned all of America into a border town, a de facto border town, more and more people are coming into. personal contact with it, with these illegal migrants. But there are still also a lot of folks, if they haven't seen it in person, they may not be able to realize the scale of it.

[00:17:39] But just, you know, think about, you mentioned some of those numbers, and I think you're right, it's at least 8 million illegal migrants coming into America, perhaps well north of 12 million even, but even if we say 8 million, being somewhat generous, believe it or not, to the Biden administration. That is a large state in the United States.

[00:17:55] I live in the state of Tennessee, roughly the population of the state of Tennessee entering this [00:18:00] country. uninvited, unvetted, and coming here largely to work in the United States, most of them intend to work here, and compete in the labor market unjustly and illegally against American citizens, depressing wages.

[00:18:14] And I mentioned that these two issues to me are completely, they're inextricably linked, Leila, the economy, the terrible economy for working class folks and the open border, because part of why the economy stinks for blue collar workers in America is because of this absolute flood, this torrent. Of illegal labor that competes against them in the labor market.

[00:18:31] And it's one of the reasons, combined with Biden's runaway inflation, that real wages, and that's what really matters to everybody, it's real wages, meaning your pay adjusted for the cost of the goods and services you need in your life. Real wages have crashed. Under Joe Biden after they soared under Donald Trump.

[00:18:48] So we were getting wealthier by the day Under Donald Trump and getting poorer by the day working harder to have a lower standard of living right now under Joe Biden A big part of that is because [00:19:00] of the border. So Texas which you asked about Texas, thankfully and listen, I want to be Objective here too, though I'm a fan, big fan, of what Texas is doing.

[00:19:09] But I would also say, Texas, what took you so long? Because this has been going on for three years. And yes, it is supposed to be a federal responsibility, of course. Constitutionally, legally, logically, it is a federal responsibility to guard America's borders. But when you have a total dereliction of duty, as we now have, from Joe Biden and from Homeland Security Chief Mayorkas.

[00:19:32] When you have that dereliction of duty from Washington, D. C., it is incumbent upon the patriots in Texas, a ruby red state where Republicans control the governorship and both houses of the legislature. It is incumbent upon them as patriots, and there's no better patriots in this country than Texans, to take that unfortunate burden for the rest of the country and to start enforcing the border on their own and to just tell Washington, D.

[00:19:55] C., if you won't do it. We have to. Now, thankfully, it has started, [00:20:00] okay, and predictably and amazingly, the federal government is fighting back, is literally in court right now trying to sue Texas to take down border barriers that the state of Texas has constructed there to try to stop or at least slow this absolute tsunami of human trespassers coming into the United States.

[00:20:21] So that's the gall Of Washington, D. C. and of Mayorkas and Biden. It's not just that they're tolerating lawlessness and tolerating a vaporizing of the border and a complete attack upon American sovereignty. It's that they are volitionally choosing it. It's that there is an intentional act to make America.

[00:20:40] And a border that is the reality and there's proof positive anyone who doubts that and who wants to assign You know the benefit of the doubt to the biden administration just look at what they're doing with texas But let's also talk about the positive aspect then what texas is saying finally is under texas law Entering texas illegally from the border is going to be a violation of texas law.

[00:20:59] Not [00:21:00] just united states law and as such They can arrest and themselves as a state deport foreign nationals who enter the United States without permission. This is a big deal, and it's going to be a massive showdown if Texas does this correctly and does it on a large scale, which it should. Um, but the federal government and probably a lot of federal courts, unfortunately, are going to side with Biden and the DHS and Mayorkas against this.

[00:21:24] Texas, and then we're going to find out what kind of guts Texas really has in this scenario, and whether or not they're really willing to say, no, we as a state, as our own sovereign entity within the United States, have a right to protect the citizens of Texas. And I hope they do, and I believe they will.

[00:21:38] I do. I believe that. And I think that they're going to, if they do so, they'll save America. I mean, I firmly believe that as well, because we're not going to get it out of Arizona. That's for sure with Katie Hobbs and an awful Democrat governor, certainly not going to get it from California with Gavin Newsom.

[00:21:52] And of course, New Mexico has a very minor border and not a big crossing problem there. So it's really three states that matter on the border. Two of the three. For the time [00:22:00] being, are not going to be helpful at all, which means that the burden falls on Texas. But if there's one state that can handle a burden and a tough task, it's Texas.

[00:22:08] I was going to say, Texas is Texas, and nobody messes with Texas. Right. Right. Now, as the founder of the American League of Workers, what do you say to those who claim, oh, we need more immigrants to do the jobs Americans don't want to do? Yeah. Listen, I think that's an incredibly demeaning statement to American workers.

[00:22:24] I, because there's an important rest of the story or end to the sentence we need to add there, which is jobs Americans won't do at the prevailing wage offered currently. Okay. So in other words, If you are a professional person, if you are a law partner, would you be a janitor? No, you wouldn't choose to be a janitor, but at a certain pay rate, you would be a janitor.

[00:22:43] Okay, I guarantee if you're a very successful lawyer, makes a half million dollars a year, but a janitorial position paid a million and a half. Yeah, you consider going to be a janitor for triple your pay. Now, that's an absurd example, I know, but I'm giving the extreme example to relay the point that [00:23:00] wages apply.

[00:23:01] Right. Wages would be high. Exactly. Wages would be higher for many of those jobs that, quote, Americans won't do if we did not have a continual flood of illegal workers into this country, which is something, by the way, it's gotten into crisis stage under Joe Biden. But this has been a problem in the United States for decades.

[00:23:18] It's been a problem primarily since 1986, when Ronald Reagan, a man I have incredible admiration for, Worst mistake of his presidency was his amnesty of illegal migrants who are already here in the United States, which only, of course, incentivized a massive further flood that has basically continued ever since.

[00:23:35] Donald Trump was getting the situation under control, wasn't perfect, but was directionally pretty great, was getting the situation under control, and now Biden has literally just blown the doors off, and again, not just tolerated this bull rush, this stampede into America, but is incentivizing it. I mean, think about that situation, for example, in New York, and this got a lot of attention nationally, and deservedly so, where a public school, I believe it was [00:24:00] Monroe High School, I know it was named after one of the Founding Fathers, a public high school, beautiful building by the way, great facility, in New York.

[00:24:08] Closed. American citizen children told you're going to go to remote learning because illegal migrants are now going to be housed. In your school building, it's not a lot of people just with jaws on the floor that was ridiculous, but it's not the first time either because we've been housing them in hotels that they've been actually destroying throughout New York City as well.

[00:24:31] So, yeah, they've been given a lot and they've actually been pooping on it. Yeah, and yeah, exactly. And not isolated. Now, the worst examples are in these blue jurisdictions, but those certainly are not the only examples of what's going on out there. And you know, I'll give you another one from a blue city from Chicago where I used to live.

[00:24:49] In Chicago, a park on the west side of the city, which is primarily black, mostly poor areas of the city of Chicago, a park taken over for migrant tents to be constructed because, of [00:25:00] course, winter is frigid there. And they previously were sleeping in sort of makeshift tents. And these are more sort of almost military style tents took away the football field from the youngsters, from the American citizen, children who lived in that neighborhood, a black football team.

[00:25:14] I used to live in Chicago for many years, uh, coached a lot of football. My son's team played against this team. Great program, great football, awesome leadership from the coaches and dads, just great organization. And in a neighborhood where there's not a lot of great things going on. It was taken away from those children and taken away from that community to house illegal migrants.

[00:25:33] Now listen, here's the thing, I'm not demonizing the migrants themselves because they're making a rational choice. They have been told by Joe Biden, if you come here you get generous benefits, you're absolutely waived into the country, and you're going to stay forever. They're not dumb, they understand this.

[00:25:47] So if I were a person in Guatemala or Honduras and wanted to come to the United States, I'd say, heck yes. If I'm an ambitious young man, I'd jump in. So I really, I don't blame the migrants. I'm not trying to demonize them. I'm blaming Joe [00:26:00] Biden, the U. S. complicit media, the entire DHS organization, political leadership.

[00:26:05] Which enables this, because again, this is a decision. This isn't just incompetence. There is some incompetence, to be sure. But this is a decision. This is an intentional strategy to vaporize the border of the United States and to invite in a destabilizing amount of people, which they have full intention to amnesty, full intention to allow to vote in our elections, and which they believe will form a lasting Democrat contingency and constituency.

[00:26:33] For them into the future. So it's really, it's almost hard for me to overstate just how wrong this is on a policy standpoint, but also how evil it is in its intentions. And I think it's one of the reasons that we are going to prevail. Getting back to my earlier conversation, we need to unite. If we do unite, we on the right and the political as conservatives, as Republicans, and really just as common sense people, you don't have to be a.

[00:26:54] A hard right ideologue to realize that an open border is a disaster for this country. If [00:27:00] sensible people, right leaning people, America First people all unite soon and coalesce, I really believe that among a lot of issues that are problematic for Biden, number one is this border issue. And I think it's where we can make the most political hay and gain the most ground on Biden and start reclaiming our country once we win in November.

[00:27:20] Yeah. And I think a lot of people realize that it's not just folks who are looking for work from Latin American countries. These are people coming from all over the world and not necessarily here to work because there's been such a huge influx of illegal drugs, fentanyl, weapons, terrorists, you name it.

[00:27:37] So we're not just rolling out the red carpet because we need workers real bad to do the tilt. The fields we are allowing. Any tom, dick or harry into the country to our detriment. Yes, and and some of them we know are dangerous, right? I mean, we absolutely know that and for example I wrote an article recently about this in the state of [00:28:00] Arizona and something that Arizonans should be particularly alarmed about, all Americans but especially Arizonans, a terrorist, a known indicted wanted terrorist from Senegal, which is a country in West Africa has been unfortunately a hotbed of terrorism, of Islamist Terrorism, a man wanted in Senegal made his way to Mexico.

[00:28:20] And by the way, you're exactly right. The whole world knows this. If you get to Mexico, you cross in the United States, largely unencumbered. The only sort of guards are not America. It's the Mexican cartels. That's another terrible aspect of this story is how much we are. Empowering the Mexican cartels and how much money we're putting into their pockets.

[00:28:37] But anyway, that's a different aspect of this tragedy. But as long as you pay the cartels, it's open passage effectively into the United States. So this terrorist, wanted terrorist from Senegal, passed near Lukeville, Arizona and was given, and this is how it happens, folks. was given passage. They asked you, where do you want to go?

[00:28:55] You said, I want to go to New York City. Heard the U. S. taxpayer, terrorist, we don't know [00:29:00] exactly how he got there, was it a bus or a train or a plane, regardless, paid transit to New York City, now thankfully his name later surfaced on a law enforcement list as, wait a second, this guy's on the Interpol international list because he's that serious of a terrorist, and he was successfully Picked up and apprehended in New York City.

[00:29:19] Now, what was he planning in New York City? Effectively, America's capital in many ways, and certainly a target, obviously, for terrorists historically, and perhaps in the current, in the present. What was he planning? We don't know. But the idea that he could saunter into America on his, with his own permission, effectively, and without being filtered, without being vetted, is really frightening.

[00:29:38] And again, that's not, we're not, it's not a supposition or a rumor. I mean, that is all completely documented. And how many more folks are there like him? I fear there's probably quite a few. And speaking of that particular border crossing, Lukeville, I believe that border crossing had been shut down in early December and only recently opened a couple of weeks ago because of such an inundation that it was just so [00:30:00] overwhelming that they had shut it down completely, which actually crippled the legal crossers who are needing to go back and forth.

[00:30:07] But you said that every state is a border state and that's absolutely true. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry is cracking down too. He's asking state agencies. To report any arrests or funds spent on undocumented immigrants. And I suppose he doesn't want to see this free for all like what is happening in New York and in Maine.

[00:30:26] And how does that translate into protecting the Louisiana taxpayer? And then if that model is to be replicated elsewhere, how does that protect the American taxpayer? Yes, it's no, listen, it's so critical and I love that Louisiana's moving in that direction and every red state needs to, I mean, every state, of course, it would be my wish, but let's face it, it'll only be the red states, but to your point, states again, like my state of Tennessee or red state like Arkansas, places that are landlocked and are not particularly close to the border still have illegal migrant issues because they are being transferred all over the [00:31:00] United States.

[00:31:00] And by the way, I don't blame Texas one bit. For sending a lot of those illegal migrants to the blue cities of the north. But the the point is they're ending up all over the United States. When you have that kind of an influx, you know, of 8 million plus people, they're going to end up all over the United States and they're going to tax the resources of the hardworking citizens of those states.

[00:31:19] Again, they're gonna compete illegally in the labor market, so that's sort of a fence, number one. And then number two is to cost them. Money that should be spent on American citizens. And, you know, we mentioned the school part earlier in New York. Just think about the aspect of if they're here, they go to school in the United States and there's no citizenship check in almost all parts of America upon school children.

[00:31:39] So think of the stress that they're putting upon schools, the expense. Think of if your child or your grandchild is sitting in a classroom with a bunch of illegal migrants who probably don't speak English, many of whom are not educated in their home language. And by the way, I'm not saying that to criticize these children.

[00:31:57] It's not their fault that they were brought here. I'm saying that [00:32:00] tragedy for American children, for the migrant children, it has been created by Joe Biden. And nobody wins because we know that crossing the border, it's easy to cross the border again on our side of the border, it's not easy on the Mexican side because the cartels are in charge.

[00:32:15] So we know that's a very perilous journey for children, particularly for young girls who, you know, tragically are being trafficked and abused in a wholesale manner. So it's a very dangerous process. on that side of the border. Again, Joe Biden is encouraging this. He's inviting it, that to happen. So it's, it's bad for them.

[00:32:32] It's bad for the migrant children. It's certainly bad for American children, because what American teacher can walk into a classroom with migrant children who, again, barely know our culture, don't know our language, may not be educated in their native language and try to, to, Instruct and inspire and educate American children effectively.

[00:32:50] It can't happen. I mean, it simply can't happen and same kind of thing at the border You mentioned that Lukeville station in Arizona I've talked to several Customs and Border Patrol folks and they tell me that [00:33:00] they have been turned effectively into administrators meaning They're not really law enforcement personnel anymore They can't enforce the border the way they used to because all they're doing is processing a massive flow of illegals And a couple of them told me, we said, we feel more like babysitters or sort of traffic directors, right?

[00:33:15] Rather than being the cops, the guardians who are guarding the front door of America. They're not able to do that anymore. Instead, they're acting more like not, not by their fault at all. These are brave people who signed up to serve America. Many of whom are Hispanic, by the way, but they've been turned into effectively paper pushers who are just trying to process this crazy flow.

[00:33:35] Rather, again, than acting as the sentinels and the guardians of the United States. So we need to get back there and to bring this back to politics and the campaign season is reason number one. I think there are a lot of reasons we need to elect Donald Trump, but to me, reason number one that we need to unite behind this nominee and that we need to elect him again is that he will stop this madness.

[00:33:55] And we know that for two reasons. Number one, because he did it already, because the border was under [00:34:00] control. Wasn't perfect, but was under control and was trending in the right direction. He showed great resolve on the border. It was the number one issue that got him into the white house in the first place.

[00:34:10] But number two, he is now promising to be even more. And I take him at his word because we know from his presidency, he was a promise keeper, but he's promising to be even more forceful. In terms of enforcing the border, promising, for example, deportations, which is something where, frankly, I believe he fell short in his first administration.

[00:34:28] He recognizes that, and it's something I spoke with him about privately, and it's something he's certainly talking a lot about now on the campaign trail, promising that we do need deportations, because there are a lot of these folks who have come in who are dangerous, who do have criminal records, because these countries Particularly ones that wish us ill.

[00:34:44] Countries like Venezuela, for example. Of course they're emptying their prisons and getting rid of the problem people and saying, go to the United States, perhaps even assisting them in getting to the United States. So we've got a big task ahead. And to me, the only leader qualified to do it, the only leader [00:35:00] with a record to show that he can do it is Donald Trump.

[00:35:02] Yeah, and I do want to point out the fact, though, that it looks like some Democrats are getting behind that notion as well. We're starting to hear from more Democrats about stricter border protection policy, including Democratic Representative Henry Quaylar of Texas, whose district stretches from San Antonio to the U.

[00:35:17] S. Mexico border. He's pushed the Biden administration to take more aggressive measures to stem the flow of migrants crossing illegally. It seems a little bit too little too late, but I think he and others in Know what side their bread is buttered on. So they're not going to get anywhere with voters if they don't start putting down the hammer on Biden's loose policies.

[00:35:40] But in addition to that, do you think that Trump could gain actual votes from Democrats who are just sick and tired of seeing their country being taken over and losing money in their paycheck and opportunities and so forth? Oh, absolutely. Listen, I think there are a lot of reasonable Democrats out there who are persuadable and the [00:36:00] border will be the issue that does persuade them to come over to the Republican side and to vote for President Trump.

[00:36:04] And as, as evidence of that, if I can point you to something historically, since you mentioned Congressman Cuellar and you're right, he is one of the few voices of reason right now within the Democrat party. Now, I hope he's speaking from a place of principle and hope he's speaking from his heart and mind and not just because of his political standing, but regardless, he does clearly take issue with the border radicalism.

[00:36:24] Of the leader of his party, Joe Biden, and regarding, he's of course from Texas, and regarding South Texas, the movement there has been some of the most significant movement in all of America from blue to red, particularly in those border counties. Star County in particular. Star County, Texas is on the U. S.

[00:36:40] Mexico border. It's the most Hispanic county in America. It's 96 percent Hispanic. It's basically all Latino on the border. In 2016, and it historically has been solidly democratic, totally blue county, in 2016, Hillary Clinton won Starr County by 60%. So, believe it or not, [00:37:00] she crushed Donald Trump. Now, of course, he easily took the state of Texas and, in fact, won an upset election, one of the greatest upsets in American history, won the presidency in 2016, but he lost Starr County by 60%.

[00:37:11] Four years later, in 2020, he did not quite win Starr County, but he only lost it by five. He rallied 55 percent in only four years in the most Hispanic County in America. Because it's on the border. And because a lot of bad hombres and a lot of proud Latinas in Stark County said, no ma said I've had enough of this nonsense of this lawlessness.

[00:37:31] Many of them have relatives or friends in the border patrol. So there are, you know. Acutely aware, of course, of what's going on, even outside of just the geography of where they live. And I think that those gains are only going to accelerate. So this time, uh, my view is Donald Trump's not going to come close in Stark County.

[00:37:47] He's going to win Stark County, or perhaps significantly so. He's going to win other places along the border. And again, too, though, it's not just a geographic issue for the border. Blue collar districts, in particular, all over the country. We're [00:38:00] feeling the pain of this, whether they're in the Rio Grande Valley or in the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes of Michigan, for example, a state that I think will also be put in play.

[00:38:08] Blue collar, additionally, Democrat voters are going to realize that the Democrat party of the 2020s is not their parents or their grandparents Democrat party. This is not the party of JFK. Instead, this is a party of radicalism on a lot of issues, but nowhere is it more dangerous, that radicalism than on the border.

[00:38:28] I think we're going to end it on that note, Steve. Thank you so much. Where can people follow you? Laila, I appreciate it so much. So League of American Workers is amworkers. com, amworkers. com. And then on social media, I'm on Twitter, now X. I am at Cortez Steve, Cortez with an S, Steve. Thank you so much, Laila.

[00:38:46] I appreciate you having me. Steve, thank you so much.