Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Source” that President Joe Biden should not be using an executive order on immigration because that is what “xenophobic, racist” former President Donald Trump did.
Jayapal said, “We all want to see an immigration system that is orderly, that allows people be processed quickly, that allows people to come in with different legal pathways and Republicans have continued to block us in doing that but not enforcement only actions like what the president is doing today, which mirrors something that Donald trump did.”
She continued, “I think this is a mistake Democrats make over and over again. I’ve worked on this issue for 20 years. I’m the ranking member of the immigration subcommittee. We make the mistake of trying to out Republican Republicans. They’re not going to come over to us if they’re fighting us on immigration.”
Jayapal added, “I think the president could have handled this differently. I’ve told him that directly. I think that we have to lean in as Democrats to an inclusive vision of immigration. We really have to make, continue to point out all the differences that we have with Donald Trump, who is xenophobic, racist, has said terrible things about immigrants. I know that is not who President Biden is, but using the same tools that Donald Trump used is actually a big problem for Democrats to be able to continue to show those differences and keep our base with us.”
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