PERRY, Iowa — U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann signed a pledge Saturday to push for construction of a fence along the entire border with Mexico, raising the issue of illegal immigration in an Iowa town where about one- third of the residents are Latino.
Bachmann renewed her attacks on the immigration policies of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a rival for the Republican presidential nomination, and she criticized President Barack Obama for what she called his failure to control the border.
“President Obama has failed the American people by failing to secure the southern border,” Bachmann said. “I will secure that border.”
Van Hipp Jr., head of Americans for Securing Our Border, said Bachmann was the first GOP presidential hopeful to sign the pledge. The document binds Bachmann to support construction of a double fence along the length of the U.S. border with Mexico by 2013.
Bachmann told reporters she chose the town of Perry for signing the pledge because of its demographics. Thirty-two percent of the town’s 9,800 residents are Latino. Asked whether she chose Perry because it is the namesake of a leading opponent in the race, she said, “I thought about that too.”
