Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) backpedaled criticism Wednesday that the Trump administration’s deportation agenda was hurting rural communities amid warnings from the cattle industry about hits to the agriculture labor force.
Justice, who previously suggested the administration should “adjust” its immigration-enforcement strategy, said he “full stop” supports President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts and accused the media of “twisting my words to score political points.” But he also specified officials should “focus on criminals who are here illegally and putting Americans in danger,” echoing calls from some other Republicans to concentrate on those with criminal records beyond illegally entering the country.
“Violent criminals, drug traffickers, gang members and others who threaten our communities should be identified, arrested and removed,” Justice said in a statement. “President Trump has made securing our border and restoring law and order a top priority, and I support that effort.”
On Tuesday, however, the conservative Trump ally and member of the Senate agriculture committee took a more critical stance.
“Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that stuff,” Justice told Politico.
“To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong,” he continued. “And in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say, ‘Maybe we’re doing something wrong here or there,’ and then adjust to that.”
The initial remarks came amid blowback from other rural-state Republicans, including Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who faces a competitive reelection, and cattle groups who say their labor forces have been kneecapped at cattle processing facilities due to immigration raids. The comments were also made the same day Justice criticized his party for having “glossed over” everyday people “out here really hurting” from affordability issues.
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“We, as Republicans, can become tone deaf,” Justice told the Washington Examiner, citing Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland as an example. “I think we, as Republicans, should own it. This is not to say, ‘Well, our president screwed up, or Congress screwed up,’ or whatever it may be. We ought to own it. Period.”
The first-term senator is a millionaire coal tycoon who’s weighing a bid to return to the West Virginia governor’s mansion.