The Democratic candidate running for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District took a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border this week to learn more about security concerns, including illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Adam Frisch said immigration policy should be about increasing border security. But it is also about recognizing how immigrants support local economies, including those in CD-3, because many farms and ranches depend on visa workers.
Frisch said that in order to support the local economy in CD-3, including La Plata County, the U.S. must push for more visas to provide a workforce for farmers and ranchers. Frisch is focused on providing more visas to workers who can fill labor shortages in hospital, ranching and farming industries.
“A good part of southwestern Colorado is feeding the country,” Frisch said Thursday in a call with reporters.
Frisch visited McAllen, Texas, and spoke with elected officials, such as the mayor of McAllen, as well as business owners, farmers, ranchers and community members to “listen, learn and confirm” what he had heard about border-related issues from constituents.
Frisch’s strategy for securing the southern border includes hiring more judges and security personnel, as well as implementing surveillance technology. Frisch said he would have supported the bipartisan border bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. James Lankford, which failed in Congress earlier this year.
“Let's try to figure out how to put that in place, implement that, and then maybe an ‘X’ amount of time we could try to figure out how to just kind of take a deep breath and try to figure out how to continue to make sure there's other processes to make sure immigration remains an important part of who we are as a country,” Frisch said.
Frisch plans to bring what he has learned about the border back to constituents in the district. He has heard a mix of opinions while campaigning.
“I've heard everything from people wanting to triple the Lankford bill and some people wanting to go back to what a lot of people said on a stage in a primary, basically completely decriminalizing people that want to come here,” Frisch said.
Frisch said he would also advocate for more federal resources to support police departments when handling drug and fentanyl encounters. Frisch supports legal trade coming through the border, but, “he had been told a lot of fentanyl and opioids that end up in Chicago are actually being pipelined through the I-25 corridor.”
Nick Bayer, spokesman for Jeff Hurd, the Republican candidate for CD-3, said residents don’t have to take a trip to the border to see drugs and fentanyl are taking a toll. While Frisch’s and Hurd’s border policies are closely aligned, Bayer said Hurd wants to focus on fentanyl and crime in the district.
Hurd also supports increasing funding for border security technology, Bayer said. Taking it a step further, he said Hurd would like to see a cap on the number of border crossings that are allowed into the U.S. daily. He supports legal immigration and would also like to see visas increased.
Bayer noted that Frisch made a trip to the border with less than two months until Election Day.
“It is really convenient that Adam is going down to the border close to election time,” Bayer said.
Frisch said residents of McAllen have similar issues as those in CD-3, such as workforce shortages in farming and ranching.
“One of the reasons I think McAllen has been able to do well is that they are putting political stuff aside to try to figure out how to tackle this issue, because from their standpoint, it's a really important economic driver,” Frisch said.
Maria Tedesco is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mtedesco@durangoherald.com.
