In a recent conversation between Joy Reid and Washington state Representative Pramila Jayapal, the duo delved into the contentious issue of illegal immigration, a topic that has been at the forefront of voters' concerns this election cycle.
As reported by The Post Millennial, the conversation took place against the backdrop of President Joe Biden's decision to overturn his predecessor's border control measures on his first day in office in 2021. This policy shift has since seen an influx of illegal immigrants into the country, numbering in the millions.
"There's a lot of fear-mongering," Jayapal stated, a sentiment echoed by Reid. Jayapal, a vocal advocate for the admission of refugees from Gaza into the US, expressed her belief that despite the fear-mongering, the American public still supports immigration. "And I think it's kind of remarkable that the polls I look at, the national polls, actually Americans still support immigrants, they support immigration," Jayapal said. "It's just that they would like to see a system that actually works and that can keep them safe and secure."
Jayapal, who has been working on immigration issues for two decades, both as an activist and a legislator, believes that the media plays a significant role in shaping public opinion on this issue. Reid highlighted this by contrasting the headlines of three major cable networks on the same story. While two networks focused on Biden's new protections for undocumented spouses of US citizens, Fox News reported on an illegal immigrant arrested for rape.
The Fox News headline referred to a horrific incident involving an Ecuadorian illegal immigrant, Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, who was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in Queens, New York. Inga-Landi, who entered the US under Biden's administration, was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge earlier this year. Despite the gravity of this incident, Reid and Jayapal dismissed it as fear-mongering.
Jayapal went on to argue that opposition to illegal immigration is rooted more in economic concerns than in fears about crime. "Yes," Jayapal said. "Exactly, and we know that when people have economic insecurity, when they are facing high child-care costs, when they're facing high housing costs, they are concerned for themselves. So anybody who comes into a space of that economic insecurity, and says 'hey, why are these people getting something you're not getting,' it does turn people against those people whether they agree or don't agree that they have, y'know, that they're helping the country."
Jayapal further asserted that the economic benefits of immigration are undeniable. "I mean the economics of immigration are absolutely, you can't argue with it. Y'know, we have brought in so much money through immigration and the surge in immigration"
"Absolutely," Reid interjected.
"Had already brought in so much money and will continue to do so," Jayapal concluded. This perspective, however, does not address the concerns of those who believe that the government's primary responsibility should be to its citizens and their safety, a viewpoint that is often sidelined in the broader immigration debate.
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