House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) admitted on Wednesday that walls along the southern border work in some places.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked the congressman if he would remove exiting border wall because of his assertion that they're not the best way to secure the border and those who live and work in the border regions don't want them.
"For the people who were living in those border states, especially with some barrier that has been constructed, would you remove some of barriers?" Baier asked.
"No," Hoyer responded.
"So they work?" Baier asked.
"Obviously they work in some places," Hoyer said.
President Donald Trump and Congress remain at an impasse over funding for Trump's proposed wall along the southern border. The standoff has resulted in a partial government shutdown that is now in its 27th day. Over 800,000 furloughed federal government workers have gone without a paycheck, with some of them still having to work.
Trump is adamant Congress approve wall funding while Democratic leaders like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) remain adamant no funding will go towards a border wall. Pelosi has gone as far as saying a border wall is "immoral." Hoyer is one of a handful of Democrats who have distanced themselves from Pelosi's comments.
"I don't agree with that," Hoyer said when asked if he agreed with Pelosi's comments. "I don't think this is an issue of morality. It is an issue of, does it work?"
In the past, Democrats voted for legislation that included funding for walls and fencing.
There is already close to 700 miles of wall or fencing built along the southern border. The Trump administration wants to build an additional 234 miles at a cost of $5.7 billion.
"You have all kinds of Democrats speaking out against the wall, Beto O'Rourke, [a former] congressman who may be running for president, who knows. He said that 'the wall is a racist reaction to a racist myth that does not reflect the realities of this country at all.' Do you think a wall or barrier is racist?" Baier asked.
"I don't talk in those terms. That is not the way we ought to look at it," Hoyer said.
"The debate ought to be not a morality or racism. I will say, we're not pleased with some of the rhetoric that has come about, dealing with those coming across the border. And we think some of that rhetoric was, in fact, racist. We think some of that rhetoric was to inflame and was not based upon facts. But having said that, we are prepared to work with the president to make sure our borders are secure. That is the important point," Hoyer added.