Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives and immigration experts following his assertion that illegal immigrants are the individuals "we care about most."
During a discussion with MSNBC host Chris Hayes about the unsuccessful border security bill, Murphy stated that Democrats, instead of advocating for a path to citizenship in border legislation negotiations as they have done previously, were now pushing for Ukraine funding.
"Chris, thats been a failed play for 20 years. So you are right that that has been the Democratic strategy for 30 years, maybe, and it has failed to deliver for the people we care about most, the undocumented Americans that are in this country," Murphy said.
Murphy's remarks sparked widespread controversy, with many taking issue with his use of the term "undocumented Americans," arguing it to be a contradiction in terms. Some suggested that this was Murphy openly acknowledging the Democratic Party's genuine stance on the matter.
Stephen Miller, former senior advisor to President Trump and a staunch immigration critic, said, "This is what they call giving away the entire game. This is why Democrats angrily oppose every enforcement measure. This is why Democrats bitterly oppose detention and deportation. This is why Joe Biden and the Democrats eradicated the border and orchestrated the invasion."
Conservative commentator Andrew Klavan commented, "Points for clarity and honesty. Points off for wicked anti-American dirtbaggery."
"Democrats want to rescue undocumented Americans," Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich wrote. "Ridiculous and exactly why Republicans refused to go along with their scheme."
James Lindsay, founder of New Discourses, wrote, "Undocumented Americans, Critical Immigration Theory, designed to sublate national citizenship and sovereignty, is coming."
"When Democrats tell you who they are, believe them," Townhall columnist Derek Hunter responded.
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told FOX News Digital, "It's stunning to hear a United States senator declare that his top priority is to accommodate people from other countries who broke our laws to get here, not to give relief to the citizens in his state who are forced to underwrite all of the costs associated with the border crisis that was instigated by Joe Biden."
Vaughan suggested that Murphy's comments "help explain the problems with the Senate bill," and that "it was not a border security bill at all, it was a bill to codify the disastrous catch and release policies of the last three years and issue work permits even faster to an unlimited number of illegal migrants."
Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundations Border Security and Immigration Center, criticized the recently failed senate border bill as a "wish list" for Democrats and a setback for those seeking a secure border.
"I think Murphy grasps the political reality that most Americans dont support open borders and an unlimited international right to migrate anywhere you want," he told Fox News Digital. "If they keep forcing Americans to assume an endless burden on education, healthcare, police, social services, and their tax liability, it may not be an electoral winner. Look at New York, Chicago, Denver, Boston."
Hankinson argued that it was "pure politics" for Democrats to blame Republicans for rejecting a bill so overwhelmingly filled with far-left policies.
"Murphy was obviously invested in the bill he helped broker. But to jam 30 years of immigration wish-list reforms into this supplemental package, call the $20 billion spent on bringing inadmissible aliens into the U.S. border security, and blame the bills certain defeat on Republicans, is pure politics," Hankinson said. "The Senate border bill in the Supplemental was one step forward and five steps back. Without going through it exhaustively, it would not stop massive asylum fraud, catch-and-release, and parole abuse. Worst of all, it gives discretion on enforcement to Biden and Mayorkas, who have proven unworthy of such power. And more besides."
He also pointed out that politicians often fail to fulfill their promises to secure the border, even when they are granted the policies they desire.
"Democrats have long wanted a pathway to citizenship - which means amnesty. The problem with amnesty is first, it rankles Americans sense of fairness to see people who jumped the line ahead of millions who want to come here, some of whom are waiting patiently in the legal system," Hankinson added. "Second, conservatives got burned with the 1986 IRCA, where the left got amnesty, and the right got no enforcement. Third, the flow never stopped after 1986, and its become a firehose under Biden."
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