So I sat down with the three Republican candidates for the House of Representatives 10th District of Texas today. I asked them two main questions, which were “What are your three most important issues?” and “What is your platform on your most important issue?”. Their answers varied widely on the first question, but I was surprised to discover that the most important issue for all three candidates was illegal immigration. They had wildly different approaches to combating this issue, but they all agreed that immigration is a huge problem that must be fixed immediately.

      The first candidate I sat down with was Quinlan Moore. His top three issues were illegal immigration, the lack of climate change, and gun control. Although his policy addressing illegal immigration was not the most extreme of the three candidates, his hatred towards immigrants was the worst. When asked about immigrants, Moore replied “they are all criminals, they bring drugs, lower wages, and they take our jobs.” His suggestion for eliminating illegal immigration was the build a “great canal” separating the US from Mexico, and he wanted to make sure there was emphasis on the word “great.” Whatever that means.

      Next I talked to Jack Wallace, who most definitely had the most severe and offensive policy towards immigrants. He said, and I quote him directly, that we should “shoot on site” any illegal alien in the United States. His reasoning for this gross human rights violation was that his grandfather was killed by an illegal immigrant, and “they all deserve to die because of it.” When I asked if he had thought about the ramifications of killing millions of people, he replied, “Not really, I haven’t really thought about it. In fact, I haven’t really thought in general.” What a great thing to hear from a presidential candidate. His other top issues were vaccines and abortion, and those stances were just as idiotic.

      Finally I got the chance to sit down with Beau Burbach, who in the debates seemed to be the most moderate and level-headed of the three Republican candidates. His top three issues were illegal immigration, gun rights, and securing our jobs. His policy on immigration, while still wacky, was the most realistic and civilized policy of the three Republican candidates. He wants to equip our border patrol agents with better technology, including “laser guns” and “really cool helicopters.” This seems somewhat legitimate, I guess, but it’s much better than simply killing immigrants or spending billions of dollars on a “grand canal.”

      In summary, I was not impressed with any of the Republican candidates today. There policies towards immigrants were not only hateful, but also extremely impractical and in some cases outright illegal. The Democratic candidates have much more concrete ways of securing our borders and keeping Americans safe. Not only that, but they can talk to me about their platforms without having to consult their campaign staff, which happened many times during my interviews today. It was a disappointing day, and I hope the voters vote for much more friendly and concrete immigration policy when election comes around on November 8.