Residents in the 22nd congressional district had the opportunity to engage with Representative Brandon Williams Tuesday evening via teletown hall. In the nearly hour-long call, which was also streamed on Facebook, Williams answered questions about some hot button issues, including securing the southern border. He says the solution is to “remain in Mexico.”
“That's not a political left or right solution," Williams said. "The solution is if you want to seek asylum, you have to wait in a third country while your court date is being waited for. In many cases, that's eight or nine years away. You can't just come into the United States and stay while you're waiting for that claim to be to be processed.”
Williams claims “remain in Mexico” worked under the Trump administration, but it was criticized for exposing migrants to attacks while they waited. Meanwhile, Congress has yet to pass significant immigration legislation, even as Williams and other republicans blame the Biden administration for failing to secure what they falsely claim is an “open border.”
Williams was also asked about inflation, and he says New York State’s focus on green energy is one factor driving up costs.
“Because of these decisions made by the state, all of those costs get passed on to ratepayers," Williams said. "There's no way around it. No way to subsidize it. And so the state's investment and demand for wind and solar has actually driven up costs.”
Williams, who served in the U.S. Navy aboard a nuclear submarine, says nuclear power can’t be dismissed as a reliable, low-emission form of energy.
He also took a question from a concerned mother about the looming impacts of climate change. Williams says Asia is responsible for most carbon emissions.
“As their economy and population have grown in Asia, so has their emissions," Williams said. "That's primarily coal and burning more coal. Unfortunately what you've seen is a shift of emissions from where we are reducing ours and China and other countries are increasing theirs much more rapidly.”
Williams also took questions about Israel and Hamas, veterans, and the Chinese spy balloon from last year. Williams is seeking re-election to a second term.
