Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman encouraged fellow Democrats to "engage" in "reasonable conversation" with Republicans on border security.
The Pennsylvania senator's remarks follow the Senate's failure to pass $111 billion in funding for Ukraine, Israel, and U.S. border enforcement on Thursday.
Fetterman criticized fellow Democratic colleagues who have argued increasing border security and enforcing immigration laws is racial discrimination.
“I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border,” Fetterman told POLITICO. “It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”
Fetterman further cited nearly 270,000 border encounters, per a September report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “Honestly, it’s astonishing. And this isn’t a Fox News kind of statistic. This is the government’s,” he said of the statistics. “You essentially have Pittsburgh showing up there at the border.”Loading...
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have clashed over a supplemental funding request from President Joe Biden. The President has requested further aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan along with allocating funds for border security. Democrats largely have been eager to work with President Biden on supplemental funding while Republicans have demanded significant immigration reforms including asylum limits.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said Republicans have made "hardline demands to shut down the border." Republican Sen. James Lankford from Oklahoma countered the Democratic view on border security measures, saying, “We cannot work to secure other nations while our own border remains a massive national security risk.”
Fetterman has taken a diplomatic approach to Democratic and Republican colleagues' contention saying he doesn't want to "paint [himself] into a corner." However, the Pennsylvania senator said he would oppose efforts to overhaul "Dreamers," or illegal immigrants who entered the country as children.
Fetterman's wife, Gisele, referred to Dreamers as being on Republicans' "OnlyFans wish list," per POLITICO.
The Pennsylvania senator also claimed he was still "perhaps the most pro-immigration member of the Senate."
“I haven’t met anyone that can have a really crisp, cogent solution or easy solution on, ‘Well, what do you do when you have roughly a city similar in size of Pittsburgh coming up to the border?'" Fetterman added.
Fetterman has recently made a series of remarks in opposition to fellow progressive Democrats, including his outspoken support for Israel in the aftermath of October's attack on the Jewish state by Islamic militant group, Hamas.
“It’s truly disturbing that Members of Congress rushed to blame Israel for the hospital tragedy in Gaza,” Fetterman wrote of fellow lawmakers. “Who would take the word of a group that just massacred innocent Israeli civilians over our key ally?”
“I will always stand with Israel and look forward to supporting any military, intelligence, or humanitarian aid to get the job done,” he added.
Fetterman elaborated on his statement in another post.
“Innocent Israelis were the victims of a terrorist attack that resulted in the largest loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust,” the Pennsylvania senator wrote. “Now we know that the tragedy at the Gaza hospital was not caused by Israel.”
The Pennsylvania senator also mocked pro-Palestinian supporters during a campaign event in November.
