Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wall said he was “surprised” the Laken Riley Act would not be voted on by the state Legislature before the end of the session.

The bill, originally introduced by state Rep. Ernie Yarbrough (R-Trinity), would allow local law enforcement agencies to partner with federal immigration authorities to enforce federal immigration and customs laws.

The bill was introduced in response to the February kidnapping and murder of Laken Riley, an undergraduate nursing student at Augusta University, by an illegal immigrant.

Wall spoke about the ongoing border crisis on WVNN's “The Yaffee Program” this week.

“I'm actually a little surprised we didn't move forward sooner, because when you talk to Republicans, swing voters, independents and even Democrats, the No. 1 issue that they can generally all agree on is border security,” Wall said. “It's a very common sense issue. We have to protect our communities. We have to stop the influx of fentanyl, human trafficking and dangerous criminals.”

Wall also discussed how the federal government should do its job and keep the border safe.

“I always go back to the fact that I'm a butterfly farmer,” he said. “That's what I do for a living. Some of my listeners may not have heard this, but I'm a lepidopterist by trade. Butterfly movement between our states is more heavily regulated than it is on our southern border. Butterfly farmers can go to jail just for moving butterflies across state lines. But right now, there's no punishment at the southern U.S. border.

“The federal government has no problem over-regulating American people and American businesses in every area of ​​our lives, and then all of a sudden they don't want to regulate our own borders, the borders to our country. I think that's very disingenuous, and we as people, as Republicans, as a society should fundamentally reject that, because it not only highlights a lack of concern for our borders, but it also highlights the over-regulation of American companies and businesses.”

Yaffe is a contributing writer for Yellow Hammer News and hosts “The Yaffe Program” weekdays from 9-11 a.m. WhistlerYou can follow us on Twitter @Yaffe