In a recent interview on Fox News, Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman expressed his belief that deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records shouldn’t be a contentious topic among lawmakers.
The House passed the Laken Riley Act, a new legislation that mandates federal immigration officials to detain illegal immigrants involved in theft-related crimes. The bill is now headed to the Senate for a vote. During an interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” the host asked the lawmaker about Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin’s opposition to the bill, as he believed it would unfairly stigmatize immigrants. Raskin cited this as his reason for not supporting the measure.
“I have a lot of enormous respect for my colleague in the House, but I just happen to disagree on this. For me, just like my friend and colleague in the Senate, like it’s really common sense. I’d like to remind everybody that we have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have [been] convicted of crimes,” Fetterman said.
“And why? I don’t know why,” Fetterman added. “Who wants to defend that to allow them to remain in our nation? Now, if you’re here illegally and you’re committing crimes and those things, I don’t know why anybody thinks that it’s controversial that they all need to go.”
During Tuesday’s House vote, 159 Democrats voted against the Laken Riley Act. The legislation, however, passed with a vote of 264-159, thanks to the efforts of 48 Democrats.
“I’ve been in this same chair, and I was arguing about a year ago saying that ‘You can be pro-immigration, but we need a secure border,’” Fetterman said.
“We have a serious issue here on the border, and we have to address that. We can be pro-immigration, and I really believe we should protect the dreamers,” Fetterman added. “But I don’t know why it’s controversial that we need to deport any migrants here, illegal, that are engaging in [these] kinds of criminal activity. I don’t know why that’s controversial to anybody.”
During the 2024 campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised that if elected, he would secure the southern border.
This comes as illegal immigrant interactions reached new highs under the Biden-Harris administration. Incoming border czar Tom Homan has stated that he will carry out Trump’s mass deportation plan. Homan told CBS News on Sunday that refusing to return immigrants will not slow down the process.
