Social Security Is Going Broke—Illegal Immigration Could Make It Worse | Congressman Jeff Duncan

Full Episode Transcript:

Congressman Jeff Duncan: But if you’re on the terrorist, watch list, you’re on the no fly list, you should not be allowed in the country. And, if you’re apprehended either at the border or within the, the confines of the nation, you need to be deported immediately. We also are a sovereign nation and we need to secure a border and we determine who comes in.

They have had so many illegal children enter the state of Texas. It’s the equivalent of 10 or more school districts. New school districts and these children are going to have an impact on the, state school system. Illegal immigration is called illegal because it’s illegal to violate our sovereignty and in our country.

Rebecca Weber: everyone. I’m Rebecca Webber. Welcome back to another episode of Better for America. And today I’m thrilled to have with me a true patriot, Congressman Jeff Duncan. He has been fighting the good fight in Congress for South Carolina’s liberation. Third District. Congressman Duncan is one of the leading voices on national security, fiscal responsibility, and his recent legislative efforts are making waves on the immigration debate stage.

One of his key bills, the No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act, is something AMAC Action fully supports. It ensures that taxpayer dollars, your hard earned money, goes to those who deserve it. American citizens, not those people who are coming into our country illegally. Congressman Duncan, thank you so much for joining me today.

It’s great to have you with me.

Congressman Jeff Duncan: thanks for having me. I look forward to a robust discussion here.

Rebecca Weber: Terrific. Congressman, I want to jump right in. AMAC, as is an organization that represents Americans 50 and older. Many of our Americans are, living on Social Security, and they understand that Social Security insolvency is something that needs to be addressed.

your No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act has really garnered strong support from AMAC members. can you explain how this legislation not only would preserve social security for American citizens but also addresses the broader issue of illegal immigration incentivization, right? We’re incentivizing illegals to come over, if in fact they have access immediately to social security benefits.

Congressman Jeff Duncan: Yeah, first off, there’s a strong concern about the future insolvency of the social security trust fund and social security in general. We’re already having to draw money out of the general fund for the nation just to make up for some shortfalls. if you take that, and then you look at the fact that so many people that never paid into social security or drawn benefits, does that lead to the future insolvency?

Yeah, absolutely. And then you add on to that, that a lot of those folks are now illegal aliens that have come into our country that are having the opportunity to have access to Social Security benefits. And that’s wrong. They’ve never paid a dime into it. Hardworking Americans that, have paid incrementally through their working career, hoping to have that benefit in the future and Social Security benefits, now risk possibly not receiving those benefits or receiving a, much reduced benefit than they expected.

So we have got to address as a nation, not only illegals, but others that are drawing benefits out of the social security, money that never paid a dime into it, and ultimately we’ve got to address in Congress, how we’re going to make sure that the social security fund is solvent, for this generation, the retirees, but also for future generations.

I have three sons that are entering the workforce or have entered the workforce. they’re counting on those benefits to be paid to them when they decide to retire. And, we want to make sure that our nation does take care of the seniors that are drawing benefits today, but also for future generations that will continue to pay into the fund.

Rebecca Weber: Yes, and it’s so important. Thank you so much for boldly taking a stand. we know that the, social security debate and that topic is really Sometimes looked at as the third rail in politics, and it’s so important that it is addressed, because so many American seniors are relying on the program.

I want to thank you for the work that you’re doing there. AMAC and AMAC Action has some, we have some great solutions, so we look forward to, to bringing some of the, those ideas to the table, sir. I want to talk a little bit about what we see happening in the, in states because this is a question that has been.

People have asked me, there are certain states that have enacted policies that provide benefits to illegal immigrants, and they use state tax dollars. do you believe that federal laws, for example like your No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act, should override any type of state level decision? and, how can federal oversight be improved?

Because, will people just simply move out of those states? If they feel that their tax paying dollars are being used inappropriately, is that the answer? that happening in California? Yeah,

Congressman Jeff Duncan: I think we’re already seeing an exodus from some of those states because of high taxation and especially when those tax dollars are going to pay for benefits to folks.

They’re here illegally and the impact on taxpaying citizens is tremendous is it goes beyond the federal taxes and the state taxes that actually trickles down to local property tax dollars. For instance, the impact that illegal alien children. We’ll have on our school systems, for instance, where in South Carolina, we have, fiscal autonomy at the local level where school districts can raise millage rates.

That means they raise property tax rates, and they’re having to do that because of the influx of tax dollars. nine English speaking students, English as a second language into those school systems. And for Texas, for instance, they have had so many illegal children enter the state of Texas, it’s the equivalent of 10 or more school districts, new school districts.

And these children are going to have an impact on the state school system. And they add on to that, the impact it’s going to have on healthcare costs, because a lot of the aliens know, they don’t know anything else but to go to the emergency room for their health care if they get sick. So that’s the most expensive health care, provider there is the emergency room or emergency departments.

And that is a, true driver of health care costs because they oftentimes don’t pay or they pay a very small amount. They don’t have insurance. And the emergency room or the hospital system has to pass that cost on to folks that can pay. That drives our insurance rates up. That was one of the drivers for Obamacare.

At its onset was the cost of healthcare that was being driven by overuse of the emergency departments. And so these costs are passed on in higher insurance rates for our constituents. And ultimately if the government has to step in, it’s higher taxes that have to be paid. So the impact is really broad.

It may be broader than a lot of folks, anticipate the impact on tax dollars at the local level and property taxes, the impact on state tax dollars as those rates go up and states that you mentioned California, Texas, New Mexico, but really every state’s a border state now. As these illegal aliens have migrated or been transported into states like South Carolina.

the impact it’s going to have is going to be felt for, many years. And the simple thing is, I believe in a legal immigration system. I believe we give a permission slip for people to come in our country. We ought to expand a lot of categories to provide the workers that are necessary.

But we also are a sovereign nation and we need to secure our border. and we determine who comes in. Illegal immigration is called illegal because it’s illegal to violate our sovereignty and enter our country. we have to secure our border, but the border has doors that allow people to enter and exit, and they should come in with permission from our country to come in and work or visit or go to school under a visa program.

But the illegality of it is where, the problem really lies.

Rebecca Weber: Yes. Now your Terrorist Deportation Act really is a clear step in protecting America from potential threats. can you share a little bit about how that legislation would reinforce our national security and why it is so important now, more than ever, given the current border crisis?

It’s beyond the economics, and, the costs that are being, borne by Americans, but, the actual threat to, to our society as a whole.

Congressman Jeff Duncan: Yeah, if you think about the border, first off, we have no idea who’s in our country, because the numbers that you hear from the administration are really people that had touches with law enforcement in some way.

We know who they are. They’ve been released in many ways. But there are a lot of people in our country, because of the open border, that we have no idea who they are. We had no encounter with law enforcement, and so they reside in our country. We have no idea who’s here. The second thing is, we know that, terrorists, people on the no fly list, terrorist watch list have tried to and some have entered our country or been released in our country, which is beyond comprehension to me.

But if you’re on the terrorist, watch list, you’re on the no fly list, you should not be allowed in the country. And, if you’re apprehended, either at the border or within the, the confines of the nation, You need to be deported immediately. no fly goodbye and get them out of our country. They’re on the terrorist watch list for a reason.

They have ties to Hezbollah or Iran or other terrorist supporting countries or organizations and they should not reside in our country. That is a clear and present danger to the nation.

Rebecca Weber: and we see what’s happening in sanctuary cities. They are continuing to pose challenges really to this federal immigration law enforcement.

and a Mac is, very has a firm stance against those kinds of policies. can you talk, speak to the mobilizing against sanctuary cities bill, which holds cities accountable while ensuring really safety of American citizens?

Congressman Jeff Duncan: Yeah, the whole sanctuary cities concept is, as asinine, in my opinion, because, you’re in violation of federal law and oftentimes in state laws.

And when states like Arizona step up to try to enforce some federal laws, ’cause federal government is failing in its duties, those cases go to the Supreme Court. And, Arizona was ruled against, in the, Arizona versus the United States. But if you’ll go and read the, Scalia dissent on that, it really talks about state sovereignty and what states can do and what states actually are, they sovereign states that have laws and should be able to.

Protect their international border, which Arizona and other border states have. or are they just administering arms of the federal government? I believe in state sovereignty, we are a republic made up of 50 states that govern themselves in so many ways. But when that flies in the face of What some here in Washington believe, that states are, then court challenges are put out there.

So states should have the ability to enforce their laws, enforce international border laws that the federal government is ignoring. Because of the impact that those illegal aliens have on, as we talked about earlier, state services. That’s Medicare, Medicaid, that’s, school systems, that’s health care systems, Arizona and other state taxpayers are going to pay a lot for that, not just federal taxes, but at the state level to provide the services that these folks are going to be, taking advantage of.

And so we have got to make sure that we allow the states to enforce their laws. Sanctuary city laws fly in the face of all that.

Rebecca Weber: That is a very, good point and very, sir, before we let you go, I want to talk about this critical need to address the issues that the SAVE Act. seeks to solve. Now, do you see a path forward for advancing this legislation and what steps will you take to ensure it receives the necessary attention and support that it really needs?

it was just recently excluded from the recent continuing resolution. this is the SAVE Act, forgive me, the acronym is, SAVE Act. All around voter integrity and ensuring, that only U. S. American citizens are voting in our elections.

Congressman Jeff Duncan: That’s correct. And I think most Americans believe that only Americans should vote and United States elections.

You can’t vote. I can’t go to France and vote in their elections, or I can’t go to Canada and vote in their elections. we should not allow non citizens to vote in our elections. So it’s all about election integrity to make sure that only U. S. citizens, I believe in voter ID, that you ought to be able to prove who you are before you vote.

too many people, reject that because they throw up a lot of caveats. It’s too hard to get an I. D. or it’s too hard. How do you operate in the world without an I. D.? You can’t go cash check at a bank. You can’t, apply for credit. you can’t own a home or even go to a home mortgage closing without providing ID that they make copies of.

That goes back to the Patriot Act, but yet we’re going to discount the Patriot Act when it comes to the integrity of our election systems and that’s just wrong. And the SAVE Act, I think the path forward is just going to be a new Congress and a new, administration that actually supports the integrity of the election.

But, I talk to a lot of folks around the nation because I travel a lot and they truly believe only Americans should vote in American elections. And, Congress has got to step up. We tried to include it in the, a must pass piece of legislation, the continuing resolution to fund government, and Chuck Schumer and the Democrats on the Senate side rejected that, and we couldn’t get a vote, of, 218 people on the House floor on that, and it just, it boggles my mind that even Republicans can’t embrace the SAVE Act.

And it got muddied into a lot of other continuing resolution politics, but, At the end of the day, we’ve passed the SAVE Act out of the House, Senate’s sitting on it, we’re trying to do it again. But it’s important for the nation, and I hope the next Congress will deal with that and deal with it swiftly, so that it will apply to the midterms and ultimately to all U.

1. elections.

Rebecca Weber: Yes, it is so important, and for all of our great listeners, you need to know all about the SAVE Act. I believe it’s Safeguarding American Eligibility, You’re voting eligibility. We want to ensure that every legal vote counts. We need free and fair elections. So make sure when you go to the ballot box that you know who you’re voting for.

do they stand in support of Americans only voting in our elections? This is a critical issue. If we don’t address it now, I’m fearful that, You know, we could have anybody come to this country, and overrun and overtake our elections, which is not the way it should work. Congressman Jeff Duncan, it is an honor to have you on the show.

I want to thank you for representing South Carolina so well and doing a terrific job. You’re in so many subcommittees, and we just support the great work that you’re doing to strengthen America. always good to have you with me.

Congressman Jeff Duncan: thanks for having me on this morning and God bless us and may God continue to bless America.

Rebecca Weber: Amen. And God bless you, sir. And to everyone out there listening, be sure to join or renew your AMAC membership. Tell your friends and family all about AMAC. There is strength in numbers. Thank you for joining me today. I’m Rebecca Weber. We’ll see you again next time. Have a great day, everyone.

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