Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with U.S. Senator James Lankford at the Oklahoma Youth Expo’s 2024 Legislative and Celebrity Showmanship competition. Lankford talked with Sheperd about the latest Washington, D.C. updates and more.
At the showmanship competition, Lankford won his species category, and House Deputy Floor Leader John Pfeiffer, who showed a steer, was the overall winner.
Lankford released a border security package in February, but he said this bill has been frustrating. While people in Washington, D.C., can see there is a problem, Lankford said coming to a solution is much more difficult and the rumors surrounding the bill have not been helpful.
“In the Senate, I have got to have 60 people to be able to vote for something,” Lankford said. “That means I have got to get Republicans and Democrats both on board. That means you have got to sit down with people you disagree with and work out the differences.”
One of the Rumors Lankford Addressed was amnesty, “There was actually no amnesty in this bill at all.”
The other Big Rumor Lankford addressed was that the bill allowed 5,000 illegal immigrants to cross the border daily. “Completely 100% Wrong. The way the bill was written changed the rules for the very first-person crossing. So the first person that illegally crossed every day, we would detain them, then do a quick screening, and then they’d be deported. If you get to 5,000, you are overrun. You can’t do that. We changed the rules at 5,000, we don’t even screen anymore, we just deport you. “
Lankford said many things will need to change to solve the issues of illegal immigration chaos on the border.
“Biden has got authorities that he can do, and he is choosing not to do that, but there are also problems in the law like the asylum standard,” Lankford said.
In the border security package, Lankford said illegal immigrants would be deported upon entering the United States illegally. The bill also makes some changes to work permits.
“My fear is that both sides are playing politics,” Lankford said. “The Democrats are saying there is nothing we can do if you can’t pass that bill- that is not true. Republicans are saying you don’t need to pass any bill because the president has all the authority he needs- that is also not true. Let’s actually be the grown-ups here. The president of the United States, Biden, right now should be enforcing the border better than he is.”
At the end of the day, Lankford said there are over 5,000 illegal immigrants crossing the border each day, and it needs to come to an end.
Click here for the full schedule for the 2024 OYE. The Oklahoma Farm Report team will be snapping pictures from start to finish- and you can see them as we add them to our Flickr album for 2024- available here. If you want to look back to the 2023 OYE- click here for our pictures from last year’s event.
Our coverage of the 2024 Oklahoma Youth Expo is sponsored by Hilliary Communications. More than 60 years ago, the Hilliary Family acquired a small telephone company in rural southwest Oklahoma. Now in its third generation, the company has grown from a single exchange with just 100 access lines covering 22 square miles to now serving more than 19,000 customers in 22 counties throughout Oklahoma & Texas. The company also offers IP television service and internet speeds up to 1 Gig. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
