On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) argued that “Not everybody came to the United States the wrong way. Many undocumented immigrants came the right way. They came on a visa of some type and have overstayed that visa. So, they may be undocumented, but are otherwise law-abiding, hard-working, taxpaying, etc. It’s our broken immigration system that has created this mess.”
Padilla said, “ICE’s own data shows this, that the vast majority of people that have been detained, that have been arrested, and even many deported without due process, do not have violent criminal convictions on their record. What they are pointing to is their sheer presence in the United States without being legal immigrants. Not everybody came to the United States the wrong way. Many undocumented immigrants came the right way. They came on a visa of some type and have overstayed that visa. So, they may be undocumented, but are otherwise law-abiding, hard-working, taxpaying, etc. It’s our broken immigration system that has created this mess.”
He continued, “So, our immigration system as a whole needs to be modernized. We should focus on the dangerous, violent criminals, the true threats to public safety. But give the hard-working folks who are doing right and pursuing the American Dream the ability to come out of the shadows, take a step towards legal status, maybe eventually earn citizenship. It’s good for them, it’s good for communities, and it would be great for our economy.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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