A young girl told Tennessee Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais at a town hall last week that her father was an undocumented immigrant. The girl was asking what she can do so her father would not be forced to leave the country.
"I have a dad, and he's undocumented, what can I do so that he can stay with me," the young girl asks.
"Thank you for being here and thank you for coming forward and speaking this is a big intimidating crowd and appreciate you coming forward and asking your question but the answer still kinda remains the same. We have laws, and we need to follow those laws and ya know, that's where we're at," the congressman said to applause.
According to the description of the video, which was uploaded to YouTube Thursday, the young girl in the video's name is Josie and her father is currently in deportation proceedings.
DesJarlais was speaking at the the Rutherford County Tea Party's "Conservative Conversation and Cocktails" meeting. According to numerous descriptions of the event the town hall was attended by about 200 people including including Organizing for Action.
The congressman's "on the issues" page on his campaign website says he believes, "Illegal immigration burdens taxpayers, compromises national security, increases criminal activity, and erodes the significance of being an American citizen. We must secure our border and devote resources to enforcing current immigration law, which includes partnering with state and local law enforcement organizations."