Trump ally calls for total migration ban: “Put a bed sheet over the Statue of Liberty for 10 years"

Who?Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX)Ask a Pol asks:You’re calling for an end to birthright citizenship — do you think that’s possible?Key Nehls:“I don’t know if it’s possible. It’s the right thing to do,” Rep. Troy Nehls exclusively told Ask a Pol Politics. “We need to put a bed sheet over the Statue of Liberty for 10 years. Just pause all immigration. Moratorium.”Caught our ear:“The idea that women from China can come over, have a baby, and now that little baby is an American citizen and affect our elections in the future — that’s what the Democrats want,” Nehls tells us.Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), slightly edited for clarity.TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Troy Nehls (6-30-2026)SCENE: Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo catches up with Rep. Troy Nehls at the US Capitol and presses him on his call to end birthright citizenship — and a sweeping decade-long immigration moratorium.Matt Laslo: “So, you’re calling for the end of birthright citizenship. Do you think it’s possible?”Rep. Troy Nehls: “I don’t know if it’s possible. It’s the right thing to do. I actually believe that — you know, with what you’ve seen with immigration, and what you’ve seen with the open borders in the previous administration — millions, tens of millions of people coming across. We don’t know who they are. We don’t know where they are. The abuse that we have recognized and have seen and uncovered over the last 18 months with the visa process, the investigations — I tell you what we really need to do. We need to put a bed sheet over the Statue of Liberty for 10 years. Ten years. Just pause all immigration. Moratorium. Ten years until we can figure out what the hell is going on in this country. Who’s even here? How many are here? They are abusing the freedoms and liberties that we have. They come over here, they say they’re trying to escape oppression and all that other stuff, but then they come over here and a lot of them don’t even respect the culture. They don’t respect the President of the United States. You’ve even got a majority of Democrats say they’re not even proud to be an American. Then what the hell are you doing here? So the birthright citizenship — the idea that women from China can come over, have a baby, and now that little baby is an American citizen and affect our elections in the future — that’s what the Democrats want. A 10-year moratorium on all immigration. And let’s double up the Attorney General’s office in the states and go after and look with a fine-tooth comb at all the people that are here on visas, and how many of them have overstayed. If you’ve overstayed your visa, you’re out of here.”Laslo: “So you think you agree with Trump that this is a win for China?”Nehls: “It’s a win for anybody from any other country. Buddy, I’ve been down to the border several times. I went to Yuma, Arizona. And the number of people that come to the border and bring in women — when they come across the border, the NICU in Yuma, Arizona, the people that actually live there, that were born, raised and used there — they got to go to another city to have the baby because the NICU is full. Because of all the people coming over, and they’re not getting the nutritional care, you know, the trek across the southern border — the babies are probably having some issues because they’re not getting the nutrition, the stress. And they’re completely taking over these hospitals and these little NICU places, because the people that live in Yuma got to go someplace else. They can’t even go to their hometown hospital because it’s full. Does that make sense to you? A big bed sheet over the Statue of Liberty for 10 years.”Laslo: “There you go. Do you have a bill that would do that?”Nehls: “Maybe.”Laslo: “Maybe? I’ll be watching. Have a good one, sir.”What should we ask Congress next?Join Matt Laslo’s subscriber chat available in the Substack app and on web. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe