Who?
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX)
LISTEN: Laslo & Nehls
Ask a Pol asks:
After the Supreme Court narrowly upheld birthright citizenship this week, President Donald Trump called on Congress to outlaw it. 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 tells Ask a Pol Politics. “We need to put a bed sheet over the Statue of Liberty for 10 years. Just pause all immigration. Moratorium.”
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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: After casting one of his last votes before Congress gave itself an extended American Independence Day vacation, Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo walks with Rep. Troy Nehls as he makes his way through traffic from the US Capitol to the House Office Buildings across the street.
Matt Laslo: “What do you make of President Trump’s call to end of birthright citizenship?”
Rep. Troy Nehls: “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Laslo: “Yeah?'“
Nehls: “Yeah.”
Laslo: “Do you think it’s possible?”
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.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “Ten years.”
Laslo: “Just pause all immigration?”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo’s LCB wire service piece
Nehls: “Moratorium. Yup. 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 some Democrats, 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…”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “…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.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “That’s what the Democrats want. A 10-year moratorium on all immigration. Ten years 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: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “You’re out of here.”
Laslo: “So you think — you agree with Trump that…?”
Nehls: “Absolutely.”
Laslo: “…that this is a win for China?”
Nehls: “It’s a win for anybody from any other country.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “Buddy, I’ve been down to the border several times.”
Laslo: “Yeah?”
Nehls: “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 you know 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 or…?”
Nehls is entering his House Office Building.
Nehls: “Maybe.”
Laslo: “Maybe?”
Laslo starts walking back to the Capitol.
Laslo: “I’ll be watching. Have a good one, sir.”
What should we ask Congress next?
Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:
Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…
