In the News

MINDEN, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — U.S. Republican Representative Mike Johnson hosted a town hall discussion at Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College for community members in Minden on Thursday.

He brought a number of updates from Washington and took questions from the community. 

Johnson expressed his appreciation for towns halls being able to return with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. He began the discussion by talking about the 4th Congressional District lines being redrawn.

Every 10 years, the state legislature redraws district lines due to the population change with the U.S. Census. There are 15 parishes in the 4th Congressional District, which is roughly 760,000 people. There’s a possibility to increase that number when the lines are redrawn.

“The census numbers are coming out now and the projection is that Louisiana has had some change in population and a shift in all that,” said Representative Mike Johnson.

“We’re going to have to pick up about 50-60,000 more voters because it looks like the way the congressional maps are going to be drawn, now each district is going to have about 780-790,000.”

A hot topic between the congressman and community members Thursday was the southern U.S. border crisis and immigration concerns.

“We have a crisis at the border and I don’t care what anybody tells you, you’ve seen this with your own eyes, they play it on TV,” Johnson said. “It’s open right now, it’s not closed. There’s no intention – I don’t think – to enforce the immigration laws that we have at the border.”

“It’s a dangerous situation because we have an untold number of persons coming over the border. Some of them are on terrorist watch lists. We know they’re dangerous criminals coming over, we know people are coming here without any form of identification, no intention of leaving, they’re claiming asylum.”

Johnson says he will address these concerns brought up Thursday with leaders in Washington.