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00:00All right, a new effort this morning from state leaders aimed at addressing one of the most
00:03politically divisive issues, one that has been for years, that's immigration. First on Bloomberg
00:07this weekend, a bipartisan group of state leaders is launching a task force to try to find some
00:12solutions. We spoke with the four governors leading the effort. It's Oklahoma's Kevin
00:16Stitt, Maryland's Wes Moore, Utah's Spencer Cox, and Delaware's Matt Meyer. They joined us from
00:21the stockyards in Oklahoma City. That is the site of the summer meeting of the National
00:25Governors Association. Governors, welcome to Bloomberg this weekend. Thank you so much for
00:29doing this. I just want to start out by saying, why immigration? Why did you want to launch
00:34this task force? And did you all know each other before? Or is this kind of a first foray into
00:39projects? It's a group project, but it's one that matters to a lot of people. So tell me
00:43how this got started. Well, this is a really big deal. And it really started with our chair
00:51and vice chair of the National Governors Association, Governor Stitt from Oklahoma and Governor Moore
00:56from Maryland, who saw this opportunity for us to get together in a bipartisan way. We were all
01:02together. And yes, we were all friends before this. But we were together in February and having a
01:08conversation about immigration. And we were all shocked at the level of bipartisanship,
01:15cooperation and agreement. We were we were really stunned that everybody had kind of the same
01:21opinions on what needed to be done. Obviously, there were some differences. And and so with with
01:26their leadership, they asked Governor Meyer and myself to to chair the task force. And we're reaching
01:33out. We're working. I think there's a couple of things why this matters, this timing. For 40 years,
01:37we've been trying to do immigration reform and nobody's ever been able to get it done. Congress has not
01:42been able to move. But what's different this time is that we we have a secure border and President Trump
01:47was able to do that. We always heard that that was the starting point and that it could never be
01:51done. But
01:52it got done. And we all care, Republicans and Democrats, about a secure border. We all care about safety
01:58and security of of our states and our nation. And we all care about the economy in our country. And
02:04with those
02:04things in mind, we think now's the time to actually do some immigration reform. Governor Moore.
02:11I think that's exactly right. I think this this does become a unique moment, because
02:15as governors, you know, governors are not focused on the partisan bickering and the back and forth
02:21governors are just focused on getting things done. We want to get things done for our communities. We
02:25want to get things done for our neighborhoods. And we see how this has become a very real issue
02:30that unfortunately, governors do not control this issue. There is not a there's not an immigration
02:35policy for Utah and for Oklahoma and for Delaware and for Maryland. We have one national immigration
02:40policy. And what we know is that that immigration policy is broken and it's been broken for a very
02:46long period of time. And so we're all focused on making sure that we can have safety in our
02:51communities and our neighborhoods, that we want to be able to ensure that that the bad guys are
02:55removed, that we want to make sure that our communities are safe. And we also want to make
02:58sure that our economies can grow. And so whether it is an economy that is that is, you know,
03:03focused on cattle or an economy that's focused on dairy or an economy that's focused on on chickens
03:08and our crab pickers, like in the case of Maryland, we need for Congress to be able to move on
03:14this.
03:14But we also know as governors, we don't just like sitting there and having to deal with the
03:20consequences of bad policy. We actually want to be part of the solution. And that's why I think
03:24this time in this moment is so important. Well, so, Governor, let me ask you, because when I heard
03:28about this, this working group, my first thought was, but this is a national issue, exactly what
03:33Governor Moore was just saying. You know, this is not something states can usually solve on their
03:36own because everybody needs a cohesive policy or it doesn't work. So when you're looking at this
03:41task force, what is the goal here? Is the goal to find things that individually states can do without
03:46Congress? Or is the goal for the states to get together and tell Congress, this is what the states
03:51need? This is what we're asking for, make it happen.
03:55Yeah, I think it's kind of both of those things. So the states are, we're closer to our economies,
04:02like Governor Moore said. And so, you know, we're sitting here at the Oklahoma City stockyards right
04:07now. And the reason I set this task force up is because I realized by talking to my colleagues that
04:12they're having the same issues. They're having the calls from their workforce community, whether
04:16it's agriculture, whether it's construction or hospitality. And they're saying, we're overthinking
04:21this issue. Let's actually have the governors issue workforce permits. And to Governor Cox's point,
04:29we all want safe communities. So the secure border is a non-starter. We have to have that done.
04:35There's broad agreement there. But now what? What's the end game? And I think we all want our economies
04:40booming. We want to make sure that we have the right jobs and we can match employers with employees.
04:46And to me, that's making sure that the state governors have a seat at the table. So the idea
04:52is to put together this task force to see what agreements we can come together as governors
04:57and then present that to Congress. It's a federal issue right now. But I believe that we all believe
05:03in federalism. And what happens in Maryland is maybe different than Oklahoma. And that's okay.
05:08There's not a one size fits all. And so when the federal government tries to dictate a one size fits
05:13all throughout the United States, I think that's a problem. Most Americans agree with us that we
05:18need to let the Delaware governor help the economy. And he's more focused on the economy there than the
05:25governor of Oklahoma or somebody in Washington, D.C. Let's talk to the Delaware governor. Governor
05:30Meyer, I mean, when you look at bipartisan efforts in the past to work on immigration, they've failed
05:36pretty spectacularly. I mean, we even have partisanship here when it comes to hats. How do you guys think
05:43that you're going to be able to get together and effectively do this when half the guys didn't
05:48know we were wearing hats? Oh, look at this. Okay. All right. Well, let's see. Look at that.
05:53But I mean, seriously, do you really think this? That's right. All right. Well, that lovely
05:57joke to your side. Sorry, go ahead. I didn't want Governor Moore's hairstyles.
06:01It's true. I don't want to cover all this beauty over here.
06:06But, you know, jokes aside, just as there are serious disagreements across our country,
06:12within our states, there are serious disagreements among bipartisan groups of governors.
06:16There are serious disagreements about immigration policy, the current state, and where it needs
06:21to go among the four of us. I'm the grandson of immigrants. I believe this country should
06:25be a place of dignity and understanding more than pain and cruelty. We're in a small state.
06:30When someone comes in and arrests somebody and Target is just minding their own business,
06:35that has a deep impact, not just on us economically, but on our community. You'll find broad disagreement.
06:42What what Governor Moore and Governor State have done that I think is so wonderful in convening
06:48this group is that, OK, we have our disagreements, but there are places that we agree where we
06:53can find common ground, common ground that's not being found right now in Washington. And
06:58we can come together, find solutions, solutions that we think ultimately involve governors in
07:03the lead and state governments in the lead in identifying the economic and workforce imperatives
07:08and saying, let's put that together as Democrats, Republicans, but more than anything as Americans.
07:12And let's move together.
07:14I'm wondering if you think the way ICE and DHS have been going about this process has been effective
07:22by a show of hands. I'm wondering because I know there is some division about this, but I'm
07:26wondering if you think current immigration policy as it's being forced at DHS and ICE is effective,
07:31if you could raise your hand. That's for radio listeners. That's that's zero hands. Governor Cox,
07:38I know last year your office announced it would be supporting the Trump administration's policy to
07:42go after illegal immigrants who threaten public safety and pledge to work with DHS. But it seems
07:48like you've also had some reservations about how that's being done and who they're targeting.
07:52Where do you think that process needs to improve and what are some of your concerns there?
07:57Sure. Well, I think, look, as we've had these conversations play out on a national level and
08:02the polling will show this as well, that there's a lot of concerns about the way things were
08:06happening. I think especially coming out of Minnesota, some of the violence and the deaths
08:11that we've seen were deeply problematic. And I think, you know, the administration made some
08:16changes because of that. And I think that's really important. And that's why we're putting this group
08:21together is to to see. And again, the end result, I guess people can judge when we're when we're done
08:27having these conversations and see if we can produce something to submit to Congress. But is
08:32there room for for that type of a conversation in this in this hyperpartisan era? Right. Is it even
08:39possible for people of good faith to sit down and come up with with real solutions? We think that that
08:45it is possible. We're excited to try to prove that. But but there seems to be very broad agreement
08:51across the country, securing the border, getting the criminal element out of the country and fixing
08:57legal immigration. And those are the three things we're really focused on. We're not going to agree
09:01on everything. There's going to be there's still going to be big differences, broad differences,
09:05I'm sure, about citizenship and those types of things. But what work permits can we can we start
09:11there? But if I can add also, Governor, we need to do something. We're doing this not necessarily
09:18just out of the goodness of our hearts. We're here because it's our job, because with what we're
09:22seeing in workforce, what we're seeing in public safety, we feel like there is an imperative where
09:27we must as a nation, as Americans, find a way to come together, Democrats, Republicans with very
09:32different constituencies and come come up with policies to suggest to Washington to really move the
09:38country forward and beyond where we've been for the past few years. Governor, you've said the
09:43president needs to tell us what's the end game. Is it truly to deport every single person here in the
09:48country? I don't think that's what America wants. Do you think ISIS current policies are hurting your
09:54abilities as governors or even the ability of lawmakers to have a bipartisan conversation about
10:00this because people are so people get very, very upset about the way those tactics are carried out?
10:08You know, listen, I do. I think we're not using common sense right now. And so really, the common sense
10:15you're hearing from the four governors from two Republican states, two Democrat states. I'll give you a
10:19perfect example. We had a person from Vietnam that's been in Oklahoma City for 25 years, legally in the United
10:26States with a green card, working at Hobby Lobby, a major company here in Oklahoma City. And 25 years ago,
10:32they got
10:32caught smoking marijuana. At that time, they self-deported, then came back legally. They're
10:39married to an American. They have children. They're contributing to the economy. They've been a great
10:45citizen chasing the American dream, but they've been picked up for deportation now because something
10:50that happened 25 years ago, even though they're here legally and they've checked in every single
10:53year. So that's a perfect example that we're not using common sense. And I can give you other examples
10:58like that. Hey, if you're breaking the law and you're a danger to society, I think we all agree
11:05they need to be out of here. But if you have an employer that's vouching for someone and they're
11:10chasing the American dream, they're contributing to the Oklahoma economy, Oklahoma agricultural
11:15economy, that's who we want. And I even throw something else out there. I mean, obviously, we want
11:19to hire U.S. citizens first. But if you're having problems getting that workforce, then maybe let's
11:24charge those employers $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 that can go towards our national debt if they wanted to
11:30get a workforce permit. So there's a lot of solutions. We're overthinking this. The governors
11:36are here presenting solutions to Congress and to the American people. There's actually a 2024 pool
11:42research found 75% of registered voters, Democrats and Republicans, say undocumented immigrants mostly
11:48fill jobs that American citizens do not want. Governor Moore, I want to ask you if you think
11:53ambiguity is the enemy here. And this is a criticism that we've heard, not just of this
11:57administration, of the Biden administration. And I heard it when I covered President Obama
12:01as well. The immigration process in this country is so complicated that even if you intend to
12:06go through the channels correctly, go through the right door and wait in line, it is then not
12:11beneficial to you when you see things like amnesty, when you see people crossing the border illegally
12:16that are getting in front of you in line. And it's not clear for people trying to come to this
12:20country how they should do it or how best they should do it. Is that a big problem? And is
12:24that something you guys are hoping to address?
12:28Well, I think that doing nothing is the enemy because doing nothing is allowing the states to
12:34have to deal with a broken immigration system where we are then forced to deal with the consequences
12:39of the fact that Washington continues to punt on this issue. So we all agree we have to have
12:44comprehensive immigration reform and needs to have comprehensive immigration reform that is specific,
12:49that does actually say things that we all agree with, that yes, we want to make sure that violent
12:55offenders and the worst of the worst, that we can work together to remove them from society.
12:59You're not going to find a Democrat or Republican governor that would disagree with that. You're not
13:04going to find a Democratic or Republican governor that disagrees with the idea that we are hearing from
13:09our business communities. And I can tell you that for both myself and Matt, agriculture is the largest
13:14economies in our state. And also what we see in Utah and Oklahoma, they are either one or two. So
13:21each and every one of us
13:22are dealing with industries that are some of the largest economic drivers in our state. And we're also now
13:28seeing that because of this ambiguity, because of these broken policies, that you are having workers and you're having
13:34employers that are telling us, I have workers who are now not showing up. I workers who are afraid to
13:39go to work. I have
13:40product that now is not going to get done and is not going to help benefit the economy because we
13:45continue to have this broken
13:46system. And so I think we know that there are certain baselines that we can agree that comprehensive immigration
13:52reform has got to make sure that we have a secure border, has got to make sure that we have
13:57safe streets. You know, I do believe that if you have a
14:00person who's been here for, as Kevin was mentioning, not just years, but in some cases, decades has built their
14:06family here, that we need to have a pathway for them to be able to continue to work safely. But
14:11we have to also
14:12understand that this broken system is fundamentally crushing America's economy. And we can and we should be able to do
14:19better than that.
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