What Montana’s U.S. House candidates are saying about the southern border

Candidates seeking the two seats representing Montana in Congress have prioritized the federal government’s management of the U.S.-Mexico border as one of the key issues of this year’s campaign season

As part of our 2024 Election Guide project, Montana Free Press asked candidates for the U.S. House where they stand on border issues via a written questionnaire. Here’s how they responded. These answers were lightly edited for grammar but are otherwise presented verbatim and were not subjected to fact-checking.

EASTERN DISTRICT (MT-02) CANDIDATES

Seeking to represent the district that includes Billings, Great Falls, Helena, Havre and Miles City.

With incumbent Rep. Matt Rosendale’s decision not to seek re-election, Montana’s Republican-leaning eastern congressional district has no shortage of contenders vying for the open seat. Republican candidates in particular are generally striking aggressive postures on border issues, with many levying explicit criticism at the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and calling for the resumption of former President Donald Trump’s effort to build a physical wall along the entirety of the nearly-2,000-mile southern border.

Elsie Arntzen

State superintendent of public instruction, Republican

Quite frankly, improving our national security along the border and reforming our immigration system is the top priority for Montana and America. Since Joe Biden took office there have been over 7.2 million illegals who invaded the U.S. through our southern border. That number is greater than the population of 36 states. First and foremost, Congress must secure the border by finishing the wall and implementing technologies that will assist our Border Patrol agents. Congress must reauthorize the Remain in Mexico policy put in place by President Trump and end “catch and release.” The backlog in the immigration courts must be addressed so that a free pass isn’t given to criminals, terrorists and drug dealers. Finally, America must deport illegal migrants who have flagrantly broken U.S. law, by dealing drugs, stealing property and assaulting and murdering U.S. citizens.

Kyle Austin

Billings pharmacist, Republican

The United States needs to finish building the wall to help control immigration. However the United States must pressure the government of Mexico to assist in preventing immigration and drug trafficking as well.

Ken Bogner

State senator, Republican

Congress must secure the border now! This includes closing the gaps in the southern border wall, ending catch and release, bringing back the “remain in Mexico” policy. There should not be any more free flights, debit cards, and New York City hotel rooms for people coming across; it is incentivizing border crossings and must end. Congress must also reform the legal immigration system to a merit-based system that allows people to enter who will assimilate and be an asset to the U.S., not a drain on it.

Ric Holden

Former state senator, Republican

To me there is a simple answer. Shut the border down from illegal alien crossings, build the wall, stop paying out all the freebies and send the non-profits home. Gather up as many of these people that illegally crossed the border that we can find and ship them back to where they entered the US. What the Democrats have allowed to happen is a crime against all of us taxpayers and our children that will be paying for this debacle for the rest of their adult lives.

Joel Krautter

Former state representative, Republican

I’ve been to the chaotic U.S. southern border and have observed this national security threat to Montana and our entire nation personally. I support a bipartisan strategy that provides the resources and personnel needed to secure the border and reduce the chaos. This includes more border patrol agents, immigration officers and judges, together with reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Stacy Zinn

Former Drug Enforcement Administration official, Republican

Congress and the current administration should uphold the laws already established. Congress is handcuffed due to the Biden Administration’s hidden political agenda. Biden undid safeguards put in place by the former administration and his actions have caused the unnecessary deaths caused by fentanyl smuggled across the open border and those that have crossed illegally.

The Remain in Mexico policy referenced by several candidates was a program under former President Donald Trump whereby federal authorities forced many non-Mexican migrants who were seeking asylum in the U.S. to return to Mexico while their immigration cases were adjudicated, a process that can take months or years. The Biden administration resumed allowing asylum-seekers with pending claims to live and work in the U.S., a dynamic that has been criticized by some conservatives as letting migrants with dubious asylum claims circumvent immigration restrictions. Human rights groups have been deeply critical of the Remain in Mexico policy, saying it forces asylum seekers into makeshift camps where they’re exposed to criminal violence.

In contrast to their Republican counterparts, Democratic eastern district candidates generally called for less punitive changes to the nation’s immigration system.

Ming Cabrera

Billings resident, Democrat

A short-term solution to secure the border is to hire more patrols, increase the amount of immigration judges, and improve the gateway areas at border crossings.

For some long term solutions to the border is to work with the Organization of American States to use their data in countries to screen immigrants that seek asylum. We need to look at the nations with the most people coming to the border as San Salvador, Venezuela and Cuba and find economic ways to improve their hardships in their nations and try to seek economic help in improving some of the catastrophes they are facing. Also, countries as Cuba or Venezuela, begin to negotiate in lifting embargos for trade. Another avenue to improve with our South American nations is to find amendments in the USMCA trade agreement for a more robust economic venue between Mexico, Canada and the United States. With these types of programs many of those who are leaving their countries may begin to find prosperity without traveling.

John Driscoll

Former public service commissioner, Democrat

In addition to working with [Texas Republican] Rep. [Tony] Gonzales, I’d visit with former smokejumpers I know who have worked as human being trackers and border patrol pilots. We have to begin with ground truths and the Constitution to fashion a comprehensive, humane and orderly immigration and naturalization process for addressing human migration.

Kevin Hamm

Helena resident, Democrat

The security needed at our southern border is, in part, a symptom of immigration laws that are too complicated. The immigration system needs to be improved upon significantly and treating people with humanity should not take a backseat to any other interest. Reducing the over-adversarial stance of our immigration policy, combined with funding the research and investigative arms, will mean faster ways for good people to move here, which will ultimately help us grow.

None of this happens without the funding and authorization to do so, and that comes from Congress getting its act together and actually passing comprehensive border reform. We can do this. It takes time and dedication and elected officials who are interested in finding solutions. It takes someone like me, a fighter who knows when not to fight.

Steve Held

Broadus resident, Democrat

The failure to pass the bipartisan border protection bill, introduced by a Republican, which would have addressed this crisis, for purely political reasons pissed me off so much I filed to run for this seat. We have a bill to protect our border, but self-serving politicians are blocking it in a desperate attempt to score points. Politics at its worst. That’s not good for Montana or America. I’ll do what’s right for Montana and America every time because those are my values. Border security and immigration are two issues. I’ll never stop working to protect our borders, but unless your relatives were here before the Mayflower, we were all immigrants at some point. We’re darn lucky our families came here. I support pathways to citizenship, part of the American dream, and develop programs to bolster workforce opportunities to address worker shortages. We also need to address the root causes forcing people to uproot and leave their homes — political unrest, corruption, violence, crime.

The border protection bill cited by Held is a measure that would have, among other provisions, allocated $20 billion in emergency spending for border security and given the president more power to control traffic across the border. That proposal initially drew bipartisan support, but stalled following opposition from Trump. 

Republican candidates Troy Downing and Denny Rehberg declined invitations to complete MTFP’s 2024 candidate questionnaire. Ed Walker, a Republican who dropped out of the race after the deadline to have his name removed from the ballot, also didn’t provide a response.

WESTERN DISTRICT (MT-01) CANDIDATES

Seeking to represent the district that includes Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell and Butte.

Ryan Zinke

Incumbent U.S. representative, Republican

I just got back from a visit to the southern border and one thing is for sure — there is no border. There’s checkpoints where illegal migrants go to get a shower, a meal, and a piece of paper telling them to report for a court date in six years. The executive orders Biden signed on day one reversed what we spent four years building under Trump. Biden created this crisis, as a result crime, sex trafficking, drug trafficking and fentanyl overdoses are skyrocketing in Montana. The answer is H.R. 2 — the Secure the Border Act the House passed more than a year ago and the Senate has let collect dust since. Both the Senate and White House have the tools they need to secure the border — but it’s going to take a Senate and White House to work with the House to get it done. H.R. 2 ends catch and release, supports ICE to do their jobs, resumes construction of the wall, holds Mexico accountable, and reinstates the successful Remain in Mexico policy.

The “Secure the Border Act of 2023” cited by Zinke would, among other provisions, direct the Department of Homeland Security to resume border wall construction, limit asylum eligibility and prohibit states from imposing state-level licensing requirements on detention facilities used to detain immigrant minors. It has been criticized by human rights organizations and immigrant advocacy groups.

Mary Todd

Kalispell pastor, Republican

Rebuild the wall. Fentanyl is pouring through our unprotected borders. Where is fentanyl made? China. Who is buying fentanyl? The cartel. Who is funneling fentanyl into our country to kill our fellow Americans? The cartel through China. This insidious drug is the number one killer of people ages 18-45 and it must be stopped.

Monica Tranel

Missoula attorney, Democrat

Secure the border and make sure there is a legal process for immigration that works. The Bipartisan Border Security bill in the Senate was a real step forward that would allow us to immediately shut down the border if it becomes overwhelmed, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, and crack down on the flow of fentanyl. The bill was endorsed by the men and women in the Border Patrol on the front lines. In Congress, I will work to secure our border and protect Montanans. I will never play politics with our safety.

Tranel appears to be referencing the same border security bill referenced by Held.

Dennis Hayes

Townsend resident, Libertarian

There should be a border wall at our south border and our north border no one is allowed in here unless they go through the door and through the proper channels like the Constitution says.

Ernie Noble, a Libertarian candidate who dropped out of the race after the deadline to have his name removed from the ballot, didn’t provide a questionnaire response.

Curious about what U.S. Senate candidates have to say about the border? We don’t have space to include them in this story, but we did ask them the same question. Our full guide includes responses from Democratic incumbent Jon Tester, Republican Tim Sheehy, Libertarian Sid Daud and others.