A Democratic congresswoman joined MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday to discuss the current government shutdown over border security, and in so doing stated that President Trump’s agenda is not to secure funding for a border wall or curtail illegal immigration, but rather to “to make America ‘pure’ in the sense of not having immigrants, not having folks of color here, and shutting down every form of legal immigration.”
I joined @allinwithchris to discuss the border wall. Trump has never been interested in being a president for the whole country. People of color and immigrants know this too well.
His wall was never about policy: it has always about Trump’s efforts to lead a more “pure” America. pic.twitter.com/lUdgVIQVzG
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 11, 2019
Rep. Jayapal continued to state that Trump “has never been interested in being a president for the whole country,” and that his White House adviser Stephen Miller and Trump’s political base of supporters consist of “white supremacists“:
“She said Trump was trying to essentially end legal immigration, and such a reduction of legal immigration levels achieves the agenda of white supremacists.
“‘That’s been the agenda of [adviser] Steve Miller. It is a long-time agenda of these white supremacists who are fueling him at the base. And that is what is so disturbing,'” said Jayapal per a Friday report in Fox News.
Comments from Democrats such as these indicate how the discourse surrounding border policy and immigration has disintegrated into accusations of racism and bigotry—conveniently sidestepping the economic and public safety concerns voiced by Republicans seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, illegal drugs, and illegal human trafficking.
Not about a border wall. Never has been. Really about who we are and changing who makes up America. Great to join @allinwithchris. https://t.co/vqnPXI8BZE
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 11, 2019
