Gohmert: 'Radical Islamists' taking Spanish lessons 'because we don't fear Hispanics'

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Thursday told a group of business leaders that he opposed comprehensive immigration reform that did not deal with "radical Islamists" who were taking Spanish lessons "because we don't have any fear of Hispanics coming into the country."

Speaking to the Longview Chamber of Commerce in Texas, Gohmert said that he understood that farmers needed a temporary visa system so that migrant workers could harvest vegetables and fruit.

"And I'd like to keep having fruit, I'm a big fruit fan," the congressman explained. "So people say, 'You are one,' but no, I'd like to keep having that."

Gohmert warned that "until we secure the border, we're going to have the same problems. They're not going away until we control who comes in."

"The FBI director has confirmed more than once that we know that there are radical Islamists that change their names to Hispanic-sounding last names, they come to Mexico and get and ID, and some of them even learn a little bit of Spanish so that they can try to act as if they're Hispanic," he continued.

"Why? Because we don't have any fear of Hispanics coming into the country, but we've got concerns about radical Islamists."

The Texas Republican added that the United States was the greatest country in the world "because most Americans, generally speaking, had a faith in God, they had a devotion to family and they had a hard worth ethic," but he worried that was not true today.

Watch this video from the Longview News-Journal, broadcast Aug. 8, 2013.