Former U.S. Rep. Allen West, a Republican who has held positions in Florida and Texas, spoke about the economy and foreign policy issues during a Tuesday event at Duke.
West was previously a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, before he resigned following charges that he subjected a detained Iraqi police officer to a mock execution in 2003.
He was first elected to Congress in 2010, serving one term in the House of Representatives before being defeated in 2012. He later served as chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 2020 to 2021 and ran in the GOP primary for Texas governor in 2022. He is currently chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party.
The event was hosted in Gross Hall by the Duke chapter of Young America’s Foundation and the Ciceronian Society and featured a lecture from West, followed by a Q&A session.
West spent the first portion of his talk criticizing policies that he argued loosened restrictions on immigration and allowed dangerous individuals to enter the country.
“A nursing student going out to jog at the University of Georgia all of a sudden is dead because of someone who should not have been here in the country in the first place,” West said, referring to the case of Laken Riley, a student who was killed by an illegal immigrant in February.
He asserted that although the Constitution is meant to protect states protection from invasion through Article IV’s “guarantee clause,” millions of people have entered the country illegally in recent years, overwhelming states’ ability to manage the influx.
West clarified that he is not opposed to immigration as a whole, noting that his wife is a naturalized citizen. Rather, he said he wants individuals to follow the legal process.
“I want people to be able to come here to America,” West said. “I want you to knock on the front door, not trying to kick in the fence and come in the back, because that’s a disregard … of who we are.”
He also discussed the need to improve the process for entering the country legally, criticizing the existing legal pathway as “too long.”
“We've got to revise our legal immigration process as well because it takes just too long,” West said. “And there are people that want to come here to this country, and we should allow them … to be contributing members of this country.”
He then spoke about the surge in inflation that occurred under President Joe Biden’s administration, claiming that rates rose from 1.4% when Biden first took office to 9.1%. The inflation rate at the time of Biden’s inauguration in January 2020 was measured at 2.5%, and it peaked in June 2022 at 9%. It is currently estimated to be roughly 3.4%.
He also expressed concerns about rising interest rates and their potential impact on younger generations.
“We have a Federal Reserve that is manipulating monetary policy, raising interest rates [and] spending more money,” West said. “… When you have an economy where … you have trillions of dollars of deficit spending, when you have exorbitant amounts of inflation [and] interest rates are too high, that’s a recipe for fiscal collapse and fiscal disaster. And that’s the path that we’re on.”
West voiced disapproval of Biden’s plans to forgive student loan debt.
“Can you show me in Article II of the Constitution — which prescribes the duties and responsibilities of the executive branch, meaning the president — where he can relieve college student debt?” he asked. “You can’t.”
He contended that when someone decides to attend college, they take financial responsibility for doing so. Therefore, according to West, it is unjust and unconstitutional to use taxpayer money to relieve borrowers of the burden of their loans.
When asked by an attendee about his perspective on the Biden administration’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, West again voiced opposition to Biden’s policies.
“I don't agree with this recent decision from the Biden administration to allow missiles to be fired into Russia,” he said. “… That’s big time escalation, and if you're an outgoing administration, why would you want to saddle an incoming administration with that big burden?”
West also criticized Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and advocated a harder line on Iran.
Throughout his address, West highlighted the importance of youth engaging in politics and ensuring their voices are heard.
“This is the greatest honor that I have, to be able to come to the young people and share thoughts and perspectives and knowledge with you all,” he said. “And so continue to hone yourselves and meet amongst yourselves and educate yourselves, and don’t get relegated to the catacombs.”
Ultimately, West said he hopes to build a better future for the country through the political system.
“I’m a grandad now. I have a three-year-old grandson and [a] one-year-old grandson, and it's my duty and responsibility to make sure that they live in a better America and in a better world,” he said.
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Ananya Pinnamaneni is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.