Hill says she’ll vote for ‘physical barrier’
Rep. Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, said during a CNN interview Friday she would vote for funding of physical barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I am definitely someone who will vote for a border security package that includes immigration reform,” Hill said in her interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
When pressed by Harlow, who specifically asked if Hill would support a steel barrier along the border, Hill responded, “I don’t know if it’s steel. I will vote for some money for physical barriers. It’s not going to be across the entire 2,000-mile stretch, and it’s certainly not going to be a concrete wall. But it will be a part of a package.”
Hill’s office later on Friday said that she was referencing a package already voted on by the House of Representatives that includes repairs for existing fencing, but with an emphasis on hiring more border patrol agents and caseworkers, as well as new technologies.
The statement from her office went to say the government shutdown, which is set to be longest partial shutdown in U.S. history, has greatly affected the 25th Congressional District. According to her staff, they have received calls about furloughed federal workers, such as TSA and aviation employees, who have been affected in their ability to pay for rent and groceries.
Hill’s comments come after congressional Democrats sent a spending package to the Senate that has not been brought to a vote in the upper house.