Interview with U.S. Congressional District 7 candidate Daniel Butierez

Daniel Butierez (R) from Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, joined “Arizona Horizon” for a one-on-one interview with Ted Simons, host and managing editor. The event was initially planned to be a debate, however, Raúl Grijalva declined.

Arizona’s 7th Congressional District covers the southwestern part of the state near the California state line and its border with Mexico. Butierez is a contractor and small business owner who hopes to replace Grijalva, the current representative in Arizona’s 7th District.

For Butierez, the biggest issue in his district is the border, which he said is open.

“I’ve been down there,” Butierez said. “In the Tucson sector, it’s about 14 miles up. Recently, they ended up closing all the sections that were open. There were eight of them wide open.”

Butierez wants to finish building the wall so people can be directed to the port of entry and to re-open the Sasabe port of entry. Although there is an attempt to secure the border, people are still getting through.

“If there is legal asylum seekers, which there aren’t any in Tucson,” Butierez said. “To be a legal asylum seeker, you have to come through a legal port of entry. We don’t have one in Tucson, and there is no port of entry at this time. That’s why I said we need to open up Sasabe.”

Although Butierez explained the border is the number one issue in his district, he disagrees with former President Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations.

“I believe if we just enforce the laws that are already on the books, many of these immigrants would just go home, the ones that aren’t here legally,” Butierez said.