VIDALIA — Congressman Vance McAllister said Tuesday those who immigrate to the United States outside legal channels are a “drain” and need to be deported more quickly.

McAllister, R—Monroe, made his comments at a town hall meeting in Vidalia.

Under the current immigration enforcement system, those who are caught in the country illegally but not deported often get lost in the system and stay in the United States for years, using resources intended for citizens, McAllister said.

“You are a drain on the American system, on the taxes that are supposed to come back to American citizens, when you come to the U.S. illegally,” he said.

“We have a process in place. If you are fleeing religious persecution or are seeking political asylum, you come to a legal port of entry and we will give you asylum, but nowhere in the Constitution does it say, ‘Come to country illegally, and we will give you asylum.’ Why all of a sudden do we change?”

McAllister said he was initially opposed to an immigration reform bill that recently passed the U.S. House not because he was against its message, but because it would have added to the deficit.

“I had a problem with raising the deficit, a problem with putting more burden on our children,” he said. “I am not willing to pass one more penny on our children with increasing the deficit for no reason. We have to draw the line somewhere.”

The compromise the House eventually reached on spending made for a good bill, McAllister said.

“If you have got immigrants coming from a Central American country that you are paying for, and if you can’t stop them from sending illegal immigrants, I said let’s take their foreign aid and — not only that — but take their foreign aid to send them back to their country and try to reunite them to their family,” he said.

McAllister called the plan “catch and return” rather than “catch and release.”

The House plan also called for the appointment of 60 new judges to expedite deportation hearings. McAllister said some Republican lawmakers were adamantly against allowing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to make the appointments, but he wasn’t going to fight it even if some in his party would.

“You may not like President Obama, but he is your president, and you may not like Eric Holder, but he is the attorney general,” McAllister said. “He may appoint liberal judges and you may not like it, but it is what it is. Quit playing politics with policy.”

The congressman said the U.S. needs to maintain a strong military.

“For us to think now is the time to draw down the military, it is not about us policing the world, it is about us protecting the U.S. at home,” he said. “We don’t know what is coming across the border, and that is why border security is a matter of national security.”

Keeping a large military will also give young people opportunities, McAllister said.

“Why not give them an opportunity to go and get a skill set?” he said. “Not every kid is made for college.”

McAllister also discussed his support for Medicaid expansion in Louisiana.

“I supported it because it makes sense, not because I was pandering for votes,” he said. “You have the Affordable Care Act, and whether you like it or not, you have to deal with it.”

If the state would accept the federal government’s support for Medicaid expansion, the first three years would be fully supported and the next two would be 90 percent covered by federal dollars.

“Take that, and I’ve got five years to figure it out,” McAllister said. “I care about at the end of the day I can make sure you are covered if the worst thing happens. This ain’t a Democrat or Republican issue, this is something that in real life is going to happen.”

McAllister said he likely wouldn’t support Medicaid expansion if the Affordable Care Act wasn’t on the table, but it is already law.

“When life serves you lemons, you make lemonade,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be the best lemonade of your life, you’ve got to drink it.”