Mike Flood answers questions on the border, Biden, and the war in Gaza at Bellevue town hall

Congressman Mike Flood paid a visit to Bellevue Monday night to hold a town hall event for constituents in Nebraska’s first district. Around 50 people were in attendance at the small gathering at the Hitchcock Humanities Center on Bellevue University campus.

Flood began the event with a brief slideshow highlighting a few local issues, including funding to deal with the 2019 flooding at Offutt Airforce Base, money for the renovation and expansion of the Bellevue public library, and a new Interstate exchange around 192nd street.

Illegal Immigration

A significant portion of Flood’s talk was dedicated to border issues. Flood described traveled to Eagle Pass in January of this year, where up to 10,000 migrants were crossing the border each day. They were being handled by around 250 federal agents trying to patrol 240 miles of the border.

“I was standing there with the speaker of the House of Representatives,” Flood recalled. “Four men from Venezuela were wearing Carhart jackets and working their way through the razor wire of the protection barrier. And they were taken into custody right in front of us. They don’t fear the authority of the law. They know that they’ll be placed in a band, they’ll be taken to a center, they’ll claim asylum, they’ll be given a court date to appear up to five years later. And then they’ll be shuttled to a house somewhere thanks to a non-governmental organization that receives money from the federal government. and then they find their way into the United States.”

Flood supports the Secure the Border Act (HR2), which was passed by the house in 2023. I asked Flood about the possibility of reinstating the Remain in Mexico Policy by tying it to funding for Ukraine, a proposal advanced by Nebraska’s Second District congressman Don Bacon.

“I think we need to vote for these issues one at a time so the American people know what we’re for,” Flood said. “I understand putting a package together to get the right kind of votes, but Remain in Mexico without President Biden’s commitment to working on this with the Mexican President, I’m afraid, would sound good but wouldn’t relate to the win that we need to stop what’s at the border.”

Investigating Biden & Defending Israel

One guest asked why it was taking so long to investigate President Biden. Flood said that the judiciary committee had “been stopped at every corner by the White House Council for getting what we want. We were told that they would cooperate, and now we have gone to the route of getting subpoenas.” Flood also said, “Not having a speaker for the better part of a month was a huge setback, because if you don’t have a speaker, you cannot do anything.”

The most fiery question came from a man upset about the war in Gaza. “Most of the world recognizes that Israel is currently committing genocide in Gaza,” the guest said. “My question is where are you going to stop working to put a stop to that?” Flood responded, “America doesn’t have a better ally than Israel,” which drew applause from other attendees. “And if what happened in Israel happened in the United States, the Israelis would stand behind us to root out the evil terrorists that did that on October 7th.”

“Thirty-thousand women and children murdered by the Israelis!” the guest shot back. “That is not a good ally!” Flood responded, “We disagree on this point.”

Among the guests was Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike, who asked a question about cyber security toward the end of the event.