GOP nominee for Senate Dave McCormick, left, shared his thoughts on immigration, drug trafficking and police funding on Friday, June 28, during his “America's Future Tour” in Cranberry. McCormick was joined by former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, right, as well as former state Gov. Tom Corbett, Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe, York County District Attorney Dave Sunday and associate attorney Andrea Parenti, a past president of the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association. Irina Bucur/Butler Eagle

CRANBERRY — As Dave McCormick continues his campaign for U.S. Senate in the race against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, his “America’s Future Tour” presented an opportunity for the GOP nominee to discuss his priorities regarding undocumented immigrants, police, drug trafficking and more.

The issues were discussed Friday, June 28, as part of McCormick’s focus on crime and public safety during his stop in Cranberry Township, where the longtime hedge fund executive of Bridgewater Associates and former treasury official under president George W. Bush’s administration was joined by former state Gov. Tom Corbett, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe, as well as attorney and Slippery-Rock area resident Andrea Parenti, a past president of the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association.

York County district attorney Dave Sunday, who is running for Pennsylvania attorney general, served as moderator for the panel.

McCormick said, if elected, he would support enacting special operations in Mexico that would target drug cartels. He also said he would advocate for sanctions against China over the country’s export of synthetic drugs into the U.S.

“We have to finish the border wall, we have to fund the border patrol,” he said. “We have to have adequate security at the border. But then I think we need to take it one step further.”

“We need to go after the cartels, and we need to go across the border into Mexico and destroy the cartels, and use our military capability in a very targeted, sophisticated way,” he said. “We have the drones, we have the special operations to go in and take care of those cartels and destroy them. They are terrorists. They are killing Americans.”

“We’re treating this without sort of a recognition of the scale or the scope of the threat for our families,” he said. “For 100,000 people to die, as terrible as that is, that’s the tip of the iceberg. What’s underneath the water is a huge burden of addiction, destruction of families, destruction of communities. We’ve got to put an end to this and it requires decisive action.”

Barr likened the special operations McCormick proposed in Mexico to those previously deployed in Syria to target ISIS fighters.

Throughout the event, McCormick reiterated his support for strengthening U.S. borders and expressed the need to narrow citizenship paths for asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants, stating undocumented immigrants pose a threat to national security and safety.

“I think the issue of granting a path of citizenship gets at the most fundamental problem,” he said.

“We have to say definitively that there is not a path to citizenship if you enter the country by breaking our laws,” he said.

McCormick argued against President Joe Biden’s recent actions that would allow certain noncitizen spouses and their children apply for green cards.

To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen. If approved, they would have three years to apply for permanent residence and receive a temporary work permit, during which time they would be able to remain with their families in the U.S.

“Legal immigration is critical to the future of our great country,” McCormick said. “But we have to match a reformed legal immigration system with a strong, secure border that ensures that illegal immigration … comes to a halt.”

McCormick said he would advocate for policies that provide more support to law enforcement.

As he shared his thoughts on the shortage of police officers and scrutiny of law enforcement, Sheriff Slupe called mandated policies “reactionary,” expressing concern over police departments being mandated to follow policies in order to be eligible for federal grants.

Slupe’s comments, as well as McCormick’s stance on police support, come amid nationwide talks of police reform and discussions of defunding police departments following high-profile cases of police brutality.

McCormick, alongside Slupe, Barr and Corbett, maintained that well-funded police departments would, in turn, help decrease crime.

“It’s very disturbing what policies can really dictate in law enforcement,” Slupe said.

“In law enforcement, you can’t think all the time,” Slupe said. “Someone runs in here with a gun, I can’t think — I have to react.”

“Every millisecond is now under scrutiny, because somebody had a camera, somebody had their cellphone,” he said. “You’re always under the microscope.”

This is McCormick’s second bid for the U.S. Senate. Last year, the veteran and West Point graduate faced criticism over his residency ahead of the Senate race: while the Bloomsburg native owns a home in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the Associated Press reported as recently as August 2023 that he still lived in Connecticut.

McCormick served as the CEO of Bridgewater Associates — referred to as one of the world’s largest hedge funds — until 2022, when he left to run for Senate.