During Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) argued for the presence of migrants, as Chicago and New York City are being overrun with a migrant influx.
The Illinois Democrat said if an emotional appeal could not persuade some to be more receptive to an influx of illegal immigrants, he hoped his economic argument might.
“I was at the first press conference with my colleagues from New York City and witnessed the protest. I had someone tell me they wanted to intimidate me,” he said. “I’m from Chicago, so good luck with all of that. This country has a long history of migrants being scapegoats, pariahs, people we blame for everything. It has altered our history. But without migrants where are we? My friend John Lewis, the late John Lewis, said we may have come here in the different ships, but we are all in the same boat now.”
“This economy, this labor market needs migrants,” Quigley continued. “So if I cannot appeal to your hearts by seeing these little kids and all of them as migrants and trying to help them, I want to appeal to your brain. How important these migrants could be to our economy and growing it.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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