FOX News " Hannity" - Transcript: Trump's Immigration Stance

Interview

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RICK PERRY, R-TEXAS, FMR. GOV., PRES. CANDIDATE: Well, I think you have to be critical of his disrespectful language that he used. We want to talk about how to bring this country together and the solutions that we have in this country, I'll be more than happy to have that conversation.

But to paint with the broad brush that Mr. Trump did and basically say that all Mexicans were rapists and killers is -- you know, that's just -- that is the type of inflammatory language that doesn't do anything at all.

What we need to be talking about is the real issue here, and that is the lack of commitment from Washington, D.C., to secure this border. You saw it, Sean. We put our border patrol -- or I should say our Department of Public Safety, our Texas Rangers, our Parks and Wildlife wardens -- right in the river. And we made a big impact. We had a 74 percent decrease in apprehensions. That's what we ought to be talking about...

HANNITY: I'm going to go to that in a second...

PERRY: ... rather than this rhetoric...

HANNITY: Yes, Governor, but I want to be fair to Mr. Trump in this respect. Perhaps inarticulate, but he did say, you know, some people are good people. He didn't say all Mexicans, as how you categorized it. He did say some people are good people.

But these crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants. You see these Department of Homeland Security numbers. You see the cost factor, health care, education, criminal justice system. You know, in that sense, factually, is he right that this is happening? That's just a fact, isn't it?

PERRY: Nobody knows it better than I do. For 14 years, I was the governor of a state with a 1,200-mile border with Mexico. I understand exactly what's going on.

And all the people of the state of Texas, whether they're Anglo or African-American or Hispanic, want to see that border secure. And that's what this conversation needs to stay focused on, not making, you know, rhetoric that is hyperbolic...

HANNITY: Let me go...

PERRY: He knew exactly what he was doing with those statements.

HANNITY: All right, I'll let you guys battle it out. We have a debate coming in less than a month, so I'm sure that issue will come up.

When I went down there -- this was the -- I sat through a security briefing with you, and in this briefing, we learned that there were 642,000 crimes committed against Texans alone since 2008.

I have that videotape. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Criminal aliens have been responsible for about 642,000 offenses, criminal offenses. You look up there on top left -- sexual assault, there's close to 8,000 victims out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 642,000 crimes...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Texas alone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) over 200,000 individuals with a criminal history reflects that they were committing over 642,000 crimes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the cost of not securing the border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: OK, you -- when I sat through that briefing, these are the numbers that these officials gave us that are on the front lines every day. Since 2008 alone, 642,000 crimes, 8,000 sexual assault victims alone? Those numbers are staggering!

PERRY: They are, and that's the point. I mean, that's why we were -- we surged our individuals, our law enforcement to the border because we know what was going on.

And this issue is about -- the current administration basically says, you know, We spent this much money. We've got this many more people. And that's true, but they have the people in the wrong place. They're putting the resources in the wrong effort.

We know how to secure the border. You put the personnel on the border, you have the strategic fencing in place, and you have aviation assets from Tijuana to El Paso to Brownsville with quick response teams when you see activities that are either clearly illegal or suspicious. That's how you secure the border.

And if we had the will in Washington, D.C., the border with Mexico and the United States could be secure and it could be secure in a relatively short period of time.

HANNITY: Yes. But I'm looking at these numbers. And I sat through that briefing. And I want to -- I'm not trying to play politics, here but I want to go back -- let's play Donald Trump's statement because I really - - I'm not sure you disagree with it, based on what we were presented at that security briefing. Let's roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us (sic). They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards, and they tell us what we're getting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What part of that specifically, Governor, do you disagree with?

PERRY: Well, when he paints with such a broad brush. I think that's, you know, the challenge that -- to make this rhetoric be disrespectful. And we know what the real challenge is. I mean, I hope who Donald Trump's really mad at is Washington, D.C., for their failure to secure that border because, I mean, we...

HANNITY: By the way, Governor...

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: ... Washington has failed.

HANNITY: Governor, what we're showing now is when I was down at the border, floor to ceiling drugs confiscated. This was one of my many trips down to the border, as you know -- I mean, every drug imaginable flooding into American cities, getting into the veins and the blood system of American children, right there. It is the biggest warehouse you ever saw full of drugs. I was in it.

PERRY: I understand. Our people have been facing this for years, and Washington has failed to do its duty. One of the reasons I'm running for the presidency of the United States is so that there will be a president who understands and goes to the Oval Office every day with the intent to secure that border and to make America more secure.

HANNITY: Governor, I want to put up a chart showing 23.4 percent of federal prisoners are non-citizens. My question to you is, what should -- you know, we now have a situation where this guy, you know, a seven-time felon! Five times, he was sent back, you know, and we did not protect the family of this woman, Kate Steinle. And she is just one of -- you know, if you look at the 36,007 people that we let loose, of all those people, 426 were convicted of assault, 193 for homicide convictions after we let them out of prison!

Why would -- why is there no law on the books protecting Americans from those people that we know are criminals? Why would we ever let them back out into our streets?

PERRY: Because there is no will in Washington, D.C., to do their constitutional duty, that's why. I mean, we have been screaming at the top of our lungs in this state for a long time about Washington not doing their constitutional duty to secure that border.

And we know how to do it. I mean, you saw it, Sean. You and I together, you saw what we were capable of doing on that border. The problem is, that's not the state's responsibility. That's the federal government's responsibility.

And you have an administration -- and Congress, I will add -- that have not done their job. And we need not only a change in administration, we need a change in the mindset in this country, where we truly put the resources in the right place, put the personnel in the right place and the equipment in the right place to finally secure the border so Americans can go to sleep every night not having to think that they're...

HANNITY: Governor, I give you credit.

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: ... may be one of the ones that's killed.

HANNITY: I was down there. You got your team on board when the federal government wouldn't. And I think this is going to be a big issue in the campaign. So thanks, as always.

PERRY: It should be.

HANNITY: All right, Governor, thank you.

PERRY: Thank you.

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