Howard Buffett: Additional border protection doesn’t solve the problem
Apr 9, 2018, 6:12 AM
(File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
After reports that a refugee caravan was headed to the Mexican border, the president last week decided to call in the National Guard.
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I asked this Arizona rancher how he feels about the president’s decision.
“It doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t create different circumstances … We really do have to change what the opportunities are for people in their home countries.”
This is Howard Buffett. He raises cattle at his ranch along the southern border and also happens to be the son of billionaire Warren Buffett. While the president has compared refugees to snakes, Buffett has actually met them. After a refugee named Oscar showed up at his ranch one night – barely alive – he went to his home country to find out why.
“These people are living in fear. Do you want to pick up, leave your home, leave your car, leave everything behind and flee to another country? Who honestly wants to do that? That’s not a choice you want to make.”
He agrees the border needs to be secure. But he also thinks the United States needs to invest some serious money in these Central American countries being torn apart by drug cartels.
“There’s all these people who argue why should we spend money in El Salvador? The answer is, you’re either going to spend in there or spend it here.”
Howard Buffet has written a book called “Our 50-State Border Crisis: How the Mexican Border Fuels the Drug Epidemic Across America.”
It’s worth reading.
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