Matt Mahan

They're donors to the Republican Party.

So I think both sides have been complicit.

I think back to incentives, I think Democrats and Republicans have played to their base and actually been politically incentivized to not solve the problem.

And as a pragmatic moderate, my approach is to say, you're both wrong, but there's something true in what you're both saying.

Republicans are right that we should know who and what comes in and out of the country.

We should have a secure border, and we should take away any incentive for people to come here illegally, especially in a moment where we've got a fentanyl crisis, we've got international terrorism, we've got nukes that are getting smaller and smaller.

We should have border security, absolutely.

If you're not here lawfully and you're committing serious and violent crime, deportation is the minimum expectation of what should happen.

So let's do that.

But I think both parties have been complicit.

We can sit around and say, who wins electorally or economically?

We can play that game and continue to have this incredibly divisive and unproductive situation where millions of people are living in fear, living in the shadows, or we can fix it.

And when I say

legal status, maybe that legal status doesn't come with a right to vote.

Maybe it's a green card.

I mean, I'm for compromise and problem solving and moving the country forward.

Both sides are going to have to give if we're going to solve this problem.

Well, look, I've been in enough debates with them now to understand that those three other

leading Democratic candidates are vying for the same lane.

It is the more of the same lane.