Mayor Sam Abed (R-Escondido) reported that one-fourth of his city’s population is “believed to be” illegal immigrants and declared the federal government’s failure to secure the border “offensive to the legal immigrants of this country who are struggling to realize the American Dream” on Tuesday’s “Laura Ingraham Show.”

“Escondido has [a] 150,000 population, with a diverse community, half of our population [is] Hispanics, and half of that 75,000 are believed to be illegals” he stated. Abed also railed against the federal government for its failure to secure the border, declaring “here’s the president coming to our local, little government and saying ‘we’re going to dump this problem on your city with no solution.’ There is no solution unless we secure our border. This is really a disappointment to our country.”

Abed added, “I am a very proud immigrant to this country from Lebanon. I have been proud to be sworn in to protect the Constitution of our city and our great country, and I will not waiver on my pledge to our city and our great country. …. All I want is I want to protect the same values that made America so great.”

He argued that “Immigration in our city is one of the top two issues (after the jobs and economy, immigration has become a big issue. When you have 500 people showing up to the planning commission and to the city council meeting where the overwhelming majority of the people say, ‘I don’t want more illegals.’ I think, you are right Laura, it’s offensive to the legal immigrants of this country who are struggling to realize the American Dream. And I’m getting 30-35% of the Hispanic vote in my re-election because they believe in the rule of law.”

Abed also expressed that he wants “a Republican party that protects the values of this country period… You cannot waiver on the principles that made this country so great.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett