Democrat Senator John Fetterman broke with his party, saying the border crisis threatens to destroy the American dream as another 300,000 people approach the southern border hoping to cross into the US.
Fetterman expressed concerns about the ongoing migration crisis and demanded a ‘secure border’ while speaking to CNN’s In charge host Jake Tapper on Friday.
The Democratic senator, 54, of Pennsylvania said, “I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border.”
“And what I think about immigration is that we want to offer every migrant the American Dream. However, it seems very difficult to achieve that when 300,000 people show up at our border,” he added.
His comments come as U.S. Customs and Border Protection documented more than 302,000 attempts to cross the U.S. southern border in December, the most in a single month in history.
Democrat Senator John Fetterman (right) broke with his party and argued that the border crisis threatens to destroy the American dream when he spoke with CNN’s The Lead host Jake Tapper (left) on Friday.
His comments come as U.S. Customs and Border Protection documented more than 302,000 attempts to cross the U.S. southern border in December, the most in a single month in history.
The 54-year-old Democratic Pennsylvania senator said, “I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border.”
Fetterman, whose wife arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at age 7, emphasized during Friday’s show that he is in favor of legal migration.
“I’ve made it very clear that this was being weaponized against me (by) Republicans in my race, that I’m a strong supporter of immigration, and you know, my wife’s family, that’s the origin story on that,” he added .
But he questioned why progressive critics on the left have a problem with his pro-border security stance.
“I honestly don’t understand,” he responded to Tapper’s question. “Why do you think you’re criticized by so many progressives?”
“And I think two things can be true at the same time. “You can very well support immigration, but we also need a secure border,” he said.
In recent weeks, Fetterman has broken away from his party’s far-left wing by voicing strong support for Israel since the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
He also argued that the US should tighten its policy on its southern borders, a position that some on the left consider inhumane.
The Democratic senator questioned why progressive critics on the left have a problem with his pro-border security stance
Fetterman, whose wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at age 7, emphasized during Friday’s show that he is in favor of legal migration
‘I’m not a progressive’ Fetterman told NBC News last month. “I just think I’m a Democrat who’s very interested in choices and other things.
‘But when it comes to Israel, I’m on the right side. And immigration is something that is close to my heart, and I think we need to tackle it effectively.”
Fetterman said it was “not ideal to tie this conversation” about immigration to the financing of Israel and Ukraine. He added that “it’s still a conversation we should be having.”
“Progressives can do that better because we can’t sell out Israel — we can’t sell them out, and we can’t sell out Ukraine, and we have to deliver on that,” Fetterman told the station. “I would really like to make a deal to deliver this vital aid.”
On immigration, Fetterman argued that he can be both pro-immigration and in favor of policies to limit the flow of immigrants across the southern border to manageable levels.
“It’s a reasonable conversation — until someone can say there’s an explanation for what we can do if 270,000 people are found at the border, including those we don’t know about, of course,” he said.
“Just for reference, that’s essentially the size of Pittsburgh, the second largest city in Pennsylvania,” the Democrat added.
In a December interview with Politicsthe lawmaker said, “I hope Democrats can understand that it’s not xenophobic to be concerned about the border. It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”
Last fiscal year, the Biden administration saw the highest number of encounters at the border ever
At least 2.4 million migrants flooded the U.S. southern border in fiscal year 2023, and that figure only represents the encounters Border Patrol agents had — there are plenty of people crossing illegally who didn’t come into contact with DHS officers
People camp while waiting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Last fiscal year, the Biden administration saw the highest number of encounters at the border ever.
At least 2.4 million migrants flowed across the southern border in fiscal year 2023, and that figure only represents the encounters that Border Patrol agents had — there are plenty of people crossing illegally who did not come into contact with DHS agents.
The figure equates to an average of about 6,575 encounters per day, meaning it would take just over two full weeks for 95,000 people crossing illegally to enter the US.
More than 302,000 migrants have been documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border between December 1 and December 31, 2023, marking the first time migrant encounters have exceeded 300,000.
Last week, as New York City braced for a snowstorm and a cold front, city officials made the decision to keep students home from school for a day and instead use the Brooklyn facility to house migrants during the storm.
Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly begged governors in border states to stop ferrying migrants into NYC, where downtown locals have been shocked for nearly a year by the number of migrants semi-housed in previously expensive cosmopolitan hotels.
“We’re getting in the neighborhood of 2,500 to a peak of 4,000 a week,” Adams said recently in an interview, in which he also proclaimed in no uncertain terms that NYC has “no room” for the incoming migrants.
“We didn’t just say we ran out of room,” Adams responded, referring to the more than 161,000 migrants who have arrived since spring 2022 and sought help from the city.
“We are literally running out of room,” the Democrat declared. “People will end up sleeping on the streets.”