Ernst visits Wright County for town hall during 99 county tour

            Last Saturday, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst visited Wright County, holding a town hall meeting in Clarion at the high school. Ernst, who is a Republic and up for reelection next year, stopped in town as part of her 99 county tour.

            The crowd of about 50 people asked Sen. Ernst a variety of questions ranging from the border crisis to health care to election security.

            One issue that came up several times was the issue of detention centers on the southern border and border security. Clarionite Shannon Walker expressed her dismay about what was occurring in detention centers and asked, “When are we going to see some bipartisanship to fix our disastrous immigration laws?” Ernst stated that Democrats were stalling action. She noted that Lindsay Graham has been working on a plan for the border but Democratic Whip Dick Durbin is blocking any potential movement on legislation. Graham’s plan would require people to apply for asylum in their own country and wait until it’s adjudicated and approved there to come to the U.S. She reiterated various times that her position is to “Close the asylum loopholes and secure the southern border.”

            Ernst explained that she had recently visited the U.S./Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley where 1,500 people come over a day.

For the full story, see the August 1st edition of the Monitor