Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha criticized Democrats for not taking action against illegal immigration, citing crime stats and pushback on deportation efforts.
“If you want to come into this country legally, do it all day long,” Concha said Thursday on Fox Business’s The Evening Edit.
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The segment showed the 2024 numbers on immigrants with criminal records, which were just under 650,000, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Of those with records, around 240,000 were charged with violent crimes, including, but not limited to, homicides, kidnapping, and sex offenses.
“All those things could have been prevented under the ‘autopen administration,’” Concha said, referencing former President Joe Biden’s controversial actions when he used an autopen machine to unceremoniously sign sweeping pardons moments before his departure from office.
Immigration policies have become one of the major driving issues that could impact which party holds control in Congress come the midterm elections.
Concha cited a poll from Harvard Harris, which surveyed 1,999 registered voters, showing a majority support deporting immigrants who are illegally in the country, with 57% of respondents favoring President Donald Trump’s promise to deport them.
The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll and Harris X for the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University between Feb. 25 and 26. The margin of error was +/- 1.99 percentage points, according to Harvard Harris.
Concha added that anyone “sane and sober” should want violent criminals deported.
“A majority of people find that you want to deport people who are in this country illegally, regardless of if they commit criminal acts or not,” Concha said. “So in the end, what are we talking about here?”
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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called Republican anxiety about mass illegal immigration a “fake problem,” according to Concha, who added that that stance would become problematic for Democrats during the midterm elections.
“It’s a crime problem and it’s a communication problem,” Concha said. “So, we have Democrats saying, ‘Oh, Republicans or Donald Trump are against illegals coming into the country.’ Yeah, they are. But then, they conflate that with legal immigration.”
