Bernie Moreno spoke about immigration during Senate campaign in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WKEF) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno gave a speech in Springfield on Saturday, September 14, talking about immigration, suffering, drug trafficking, laws and his dismay at “eternal politicians.”

He began his speech by thanking the Springfield community for the invitation.

“I am a legal immigrant to this county. As many of you know, I came here with my five brothers, sister, mother and father just before my fifth birthday. The reality is that it is absolutely infuriating for those of us who came here legally and followed the process to see how this country has rewarded people for decades who skipped the line and came here illegally. What is happening in this community right now is a total disgrace. Unfortunately, it took memes on the internet to get the media’s attention, but this has been going on for three years,” Moreno said.

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The Cleveland businessman echoed former President Donald Trump’s call to deport illegal immigrants living in Springfield, who endorsed Moreno last year.

“Well, if you’re here illegally, you should be deported. Look, what’s happened in this country is Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Sherrod Brown have corrupted our immigration laws to give certain groups complete amnesty. They came here illegally and then all of a sudden Kamala Harris and Sherrod Brown wave their magic wand. They’re both bragging about extending temporary protected status. You know the key word in ‘temporary protected status’? Temporary, temporary! They’ve been here for years,” Moreno said.

He also talked about his plans for 2025, if he is elected.

“When we take office in 2025, it will be very simple. There is one path to America, the legal path. If you came here illegally, if you have a false asylum claim, we will send you back to your home country. We are not going to extend temporary protection status indefinitely,” Moreno said.

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He then went on to comment on the threats Springfield has received, calling them “unacceptable.”

“Any threats that are made, whether it’s to schools or government buildings, are completely unacceptable. Look, we are the party of law and order, anyone who has threatened the lives of Americans should be arrested and punished to the full extent of the law,” Moreno said.

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He then spoke about the impact of the threats on everyone, and then about having empathy for people suffering around the world. He insisted on not smearing migrants, but the laws, companies and people he said profit from illegal immigration.

“Let me say something very important, this is not the fault of the Haitian refugees or the people of Springfield Ohio. This is the fault of the corrupt, perpetual politicians like Joe Biden and Sherrod Brown who allowed this to happen. They put these people in this situation. I will say this, Haitians are being vilified all over America because of the actions of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Sherrod Brown,” Moreno said.

He then discussed his experience with the police ride-along and the suffering he has seen here in America, specifically in Ohio. He discussed the national debt and wondered why the government is not more active in supporting its citizens.

He was then asked about his position on Temporary Protected Status (TPS). He said the law has changed since the 1990s. He shared his thoughts on “loopholes in the US law.”

“Temporary Protected Status is supposed to be: If a man was here on vacation from Greece on a visa and there was an earthquake, a hurricane or a coup in that country, you would get an extension of that visa while things were being resolved in your home country. That’s a very small part of how immigration is supposed to work in this country,” Moreno said, “That’s not what’s happening here. They’re using another loop in our system and putting their hands up to ask for asylum.”

He then switched to the topic of Mexico. He spoke about the violence of drug cartels and the victims of human trafficking. He shared his plan to address the drug crisis through military action. He said he would get Mexico to cooperate with America by imposing tariffs on Mexican goods.

“Mexico is our largest legal trading partner. We’re asking them, do they want to continue to be our largest trading partner or do they want to continue to take basic chemicals from China and put them in medicine, ship them to the United States and kill hundreds of thousands of Americans?” Moreno said. “I believe the people of Mexico will make the right choice. Only when that happens will we deploy our special operators and go into Mexico and eliminate every single drug cartel member from the face of the earth until the plague of Fentanyl and drug trafficking is over.”

He closed the conference by talking about duty and being proud to be a public servant. He encouraged people to vote for him. He told a story from his youth.

“I won the lottery when I was invited to come to the United States. I remember a Marine talking to me after I was sworn in, he said, ‘Listen, son, you have to remember there is one flag and one country that you are loyal to. You have to be loyal to that country for the rest of your life,’” Moreno said.

Next, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was invited to the podium.

“Bernie is 100 percent right, this community has been suffering for a long time,” LaRose said. “Our fellow Ohioans are suffering here and they are demanding action.”

LaRose then spoke about his intention to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for access to immigration status information databases to search for noncitizen voters. He said his office only has access to one of the four databases.

“I have asked the Department of Homeland Security for access to the other three databases. By the way, they are required by law to make those databases available to us. They have consistently refused,” LaRose said.

He also said that someone in Clark County brought a translated Haitian Creole voter forum to the Board of Elections.

“That was an illegal forum. The only legal forum for voting is the forum prescribed by our office,” LaRose said.

He reminded people that the election is 52 days away. To check if you are registered, go to the Ohio Secretary of State website.