Trump said asylum-seekers arriving in the US are "some of the roughest people you have ever seen; people that look like they should be fighting for the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)."
Sputnik discussed Trump's comments with Pastor Mark Burns, an American evangelical Christian who serves as the pastor of the Harvest Praise & Worship Center in South Carolina.
Sputnik: So what's your take on Donald Trump's statement that people who are seeking asylum in the US are dangerous gang members?
Mark Burns: I don't think he was talking about people seeking asylum in general, he was talking in particular about the infamous, dangerous gang members, particularly MS-13, that have infiltrated these migrants and other dangerous gang members and criminals.
There's a clear fact that we've had dangerous, dangerous MS-13 gang members who are committing heinous, evil crimes across the border: kidnappings, murders, and now we're discovering that even more sex trafficking is taking place at the hands of people like [the ones] President Donald Trump had described in his speech, so he's not speaking [about] migrants in general, he's talking particularly about the MS-13 gang members and other criminal organizations that have infiltrated the migrants.
Sputnik: Trump said that people who are seeking asylum, in general, are "some of the roughest people we've ever seen, people who look like they should be fighting for the UFC". Do you agree with that?
Mark Burns: I think again, if you understand the evil crimes that MS-13 has done, if you understand the evil, heinous murders, the kidnappings, even the drug trafficking that some of these gang members have done, and yet they are still trying to seek some form of asylum here in the US.
I think it's every country's right, America's right, Russia's right, England's right to determine who enters their sovereign nation, and if they have a criminal past, then I think you should be able to have the right to reject them from entering to our nation.
READ MORE: Trump Calls US Asylum Law a 'Scam', Says Asylum Seekers Look Like UFC Fighters
Sputnik: You supported Donald Trump in 2016, are you going to support him again and do you think he should seek re-election?
Mark Burns: He's going to seek re-election and I'm already active with the 2020 campaign. Laura Trump herself told me that they needed me to be ready, so I'm ready to do what I did the first time, and even greater.
I still believe that he is the best person for leading our nation and there's so much that has taken place in his first two years, and we're still finishing the wall, we are going to get the wall finished, but he's accomplished so much, especially with the minority communities in this nation.
We have opportunities, jobs are coming back to this nation, minorities are working, African-American unemployment is at an all-time low because of President Donald Trump. So it is without question that he's going to be re-elected for 2020 and I'll be there to support him.
Sputnik: What's your assessment of Donald Trump's efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrants so far?
[There are] people who live in New York, people who live in Montana or other parts of the nation that really don't really have a dog in the fight, but when you talk to the citizens that live on these borders, they are thankful that they finally have a President who's really coming after them to protect them and really know that their interests are just as important as the citizens in New York City, and they are thankful.
READ MORE: Migrants Caught Dragging Children Through Razor Wire at Southern Border (VIDEO)
The law enforcement officers that patrol those areas are thankful that President Donald Trump is finally working to put a stop to illegal immigration. But keep in mind, we're not stopping the immigration, we want immigrants to enter our nation, we're thankful for immigrants, we love immigrants, this is not at all an attack on people entering our nation, this is an attack on people entering our nation illegally.
There are places of entry that we want them to come through, and if they come through the ports of entry then they're not entering the country illegally. So we welcome immigrants, please continue to come to America, but do come through the ports of entry.
Sputnik: So who benefits the most from the levels of illegal immigration in the US, other than migrants?
Mark Burns: Who benefits? It's the immigrants who benefit. This is a wonderful nation, obviously, this is why people come to America. We consider it the greatest nation in the world.
So again, we want migrants to enter into our nation and there's more work opportunity here, but again, we want you to enter it legally. I think the problem is, is when we don't know who is entering our nation, and I think the same speaks for Russia.
You want to know who is entering your nation, you do not want people who are coming to do harm or [engage in] illegal activities to enter or harm the Russian citizens of your nation, and so the same with America, we desire to know who is entering our nation, but we want the migrants to benefit from the great things of our nation as long as they're willing to add to the United States of America.
Sputnik: How do you assess the efforts of the US Congress to resolve this problem so far?
Mark Burns: I think Congress is right now not being effective like they should. They should be supporting the issues of the President; unfortunately, we have a Democrat-led Congress which is fighting tooth and nail at every agenda the President has set forth.
Again, you have Democrats who almost believed that the open border is the best route, when again you have so many gang activities like who President Trump was describing — MS-13 and other gangs like them, who have infiltrated the migrants and who are coming over illegally and they're leading kidnappings and murders.
We had over 700,000 valid crimes according to the FBI, 700,000 valid crimes at the hands of illegal immigrants or undocumented aliens, and that has to stop.
The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.