TULSA, Okla. — On Wednesday, Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford joined 2 News Oklahoma Anchors Justin Fischer and Cori Duke.
The senator spoke on several topics, including the National Defense Authorization Act, passport backlog, and Oklahoma National Guard members going to the southern border.
“They’re not doing arrests," Sen. Lankford said. "They’re not doing border patrol legal work in that sense, they’re assisting the border patrol.”
Lankford said, essentially, cartels use a group as a sort of decoy to then send another group through when other scenes occupy border patrol.
That is where the national guard comes in.
“What our border patrol needs is additional eyes, and additional bodies to be able to help them," Sen. Lankford said. "So, while they’re actually doing the arrest at the border, they need additional people out there to be able to cover the unwatched areas.”
The senator said those extra bodies are what is needed right now.
“I’ve been to the border multiple times to talk to border patrol and customs and border protection, and they’re incredibly grateful for National Guard, additional eyes and ears that are there," Sen. Lankford said.
- VIDEO>>> Senator James Lankford talks border control, passport backlogs, National Defense Authorization
Senator Lankford tells 2 News his solution at the border includes enforcement of the law and changing the definition of asylum.
“Asylum doesn’t mean I want to come to America and work, that’s not what it means and that’s how it’s being used right now," Lankford said.
Speaking of traveling to other countries, the state department expects at least 2 million more passport applications than it did in 2017, which was the previous high.
Right now, folks are waiting months to get theirs.
It is something the senator says he is working to fix.
“So, I have actually introduced legislation that did pass through the National Defense Authorization last week, it’s on its way to actually becoming law,” Sen. Lankford said.
That bill includes tracking of your passport and sets time limits on how long it will take.
“This should be a fixable issue, but the State Department can’t get behind like this again," Sen. Lankford said. "This is very inefficient government. We’ve got to actually be better at this.”
On the topic of efficient government and the National Defense Authorization, the Senate's bill sets a funding ceiling of $ 886 billion and includes a 5-point-2 percent pay raise for service members.
Lankford said there is much to work through in the House and senate bills in conference committee, but Congress will get it done.
“We’ve had very contentious bills in the past to be able to work through, we’re going to work through this one as well," Lankford said.
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