Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, said Friday the U.S. southern border can become safer if lawmakers start treating people in border cities with “dignity and respect.”

The Democratic candidate challenging Ted Cruz for his Senate seat said the U.S.-Mexico border has never been more safe and should not have U.S. military personnel patrolling an area “where we don’t need them.”

“We can make the border safer. Part of that is making sure that we treat people with dignity and respect in border communities,” O’Rourke said on CNN Friday morning.



Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke on Trump's plan to deploy National Guard troops to the Mexican border: "We should support the border patrol agents ... They are trained to patrol the border. US military are not. They are trained to go to war" https://t.co/vSySMw9HuI pic.twitter.com/kVFPr8P7x9 — New Day (@NewDay) April 6, 2018

O’Rourke said that by making those people feel safer, they would be more likely to report crime, testify, and serve as witnesses in a trial. But he opposed Trump's idea to send troops to the border, and said Trump is trying to frighten people.

“Trying to scare this country about Mexico and Mexicans and our connection with the rest of the world is not a strategy,” O’Rourke said. “It in fact will make us less safe, not more."