Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Blasts Open Borders: ‘Not Anti-Immigrant’ to Oppose Illegal Immigration

Boston, MA - April 19: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces his candidacy for President of the
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/John Moore/Getty Images
John Binder

Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is blasting open borders, saying it is “not anti-immigrant” to oppose illegal immigration to the United States which comes with immense economic and social burdens that overwhelmingly fall on working and middle class Americans.

Kennedy, who announced his populist presidential campaign last month, is defending Americans against the political left’s assumption that opposition to an open border equates to endorsing “anti-immigrant bigotry.”

Keeping criminal illegal aliens, such as four-time deported illegal alien Francisco Oropesa Perez-Torres, who is accused of murdering a family of five in Texas, out of American communities ought to be a priority, Kennedy wrote in the Twitter post.

President Joe Biden has ignored Oropesa’s status as a multi-deported illegal alien. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has likewise refused to comment on the suspect.

“Francisco Oropeza Perez-Torres has been arrested for the murder of 5 people including a 9-year-old boy,” Kennedy wrote. “Torres is a Mexican already deported 4 times. It is not anti-immigrant bigotry to demand an immigration system that keeps out criminals. In fact, letting them in stokes bigotry.”

In addition, Kennedy wrote that Americans can be both “pro-immigration and pro-closing the border” with a focus on eliminating chaos in U.S. border towns that is currently taking hold as President Joe Biden’s administration ends Title 42, the public health authority, on May 11.

“Right now we have chaos at the border,” Kennedy wrote. “Human trafficking, criminality, intolerable stress on border states like Texas. It is a humanitarian nightmare.”

Kennedy noted that, as president, his “long-term solution to the border crisis” would be ending decades-long U.S. policies that meddle in Mexico and Central America, which he says has “create[d] desperate conditions south of the border.”

“The War on Drugs is one,” Kennedy wrote. “U.S.-funded dictators, juntas, paramilitaries, and death squads. Neoliberal extraction of resources. Unpayable debts. It is inhumane and hypocritical to deny immigration while creating the conditions that drive immigration. As President, I will change these policies.”

Since Biden took office, close to five million border crossers and illegal aliens have been welcomed to the U.S., according to estimates from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). This is a foreign population that exceeds the populations of 28 states.

Illegal immigration to the U.S. puts enormous pressure on working and middle class communities that are the most likely to be forced to absorb new arrivals. The pressure comes in the form of depleted wages as the labor market expands with cheaper foreign workers, higher housing costs as demand skyrockets, and strained overall public resources.

In New York City, for example, Mayor Eric Adams has said that the arrival of tens of thousands of border crossers and illegal aliens has “destroyed” the city, as social systems and public resources are stretched to the brink of collapse.

As of March, New Yorkers have been forced to subsidize nearly $820 million in economic and social costs as a result of the surge of illegal immigration to the city. Through mid-2024, New Yorkers are expected to foot a more than $4 billion bill.

For working and middle class Americans looking for high-wage jobs with competitive benefits, illegal immigration reduces their bargaining power.

Labor market data shows that, while Biden rapidly expands the U.S. workforce by funneling millions of border crossers, illegal aliens, foreign visa workers, and legal immigrants into jobs, millions of Americans are dropping out of the workforce.

Leaving Americans unprotected from foreign labor market competition is supported by most multinational corporations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s wealthiest donors, and corporate special interest groups, as the policy drives up their economic power — tilting the economy in favor of employers over employees.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.