Massive Influx of Illegal Immigrants Endangers American Dream, Democrat Senator Says

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 17, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The massive influx of illegal immigrants is destroying the American dream, a Democrat senator said Friday.

“I honestly don’t understand why it’s controversial to say we need a secure border. I’ve been very clear in my race that I’m very much a strong supporter of immigration and ... I think two things can be true at the same time. You can be very supportive of immigration, but we also need to have a secure border,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said during an interview with CNN.

“We want to provide the American dream for any migrant, but it seems very difficult when you have 300,000 people showing up at the border,” he added.

Mr. Fetterman said that Congress needs to work on a comprehensive solution to secure the border.

President Joe Biden—who’s a strong supporter of Ukraine and wants to send more money to the Eastern European country—is facing an impasse with the House as the Republican majority in the lower chamber demands a secure border plan before they approve any more aid to Ukraine.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) insisted that the Biden administration has to address the border crisis first.

“I told the president what I have been saying for many months, and that is that we must have change at the border, substantive policy change,” he told reporters after meeting with President Biden on Jan. 17. “We understand that there’s concern about the safety and security sovereignty of Ukraine, but the American people have those same concerns about our own domestic sovereignty, our safety, and our security.”

Mr. Johnson criticized President Biden and his administration for creating the border crisis.

“We documented 64 instances where the president took executive action or his agencies to take action to create the current catastrophe that we have at the border. This is a national security and humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.

Biden Tries to Turn the Table

Data compiled by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show illegal immigrant encounters at the southern land border increased dramatically after President Biden took office.

There were around 70,000 encounters each month when President Donald Trump left the White House.

After that, however, the number increased quickly and steadily.

In November 2023, over 242,000 were encountered at the southern land border.

Illegal immigrants walk toward a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images

The massive influx put some border states including Texas under huge pressure. To alleviate the pressure and force the Democrats to act on the border crisis, Texas has transported some illegal immigrants to Democrat-governed cities including New York, the District of Columbia, and Philadelphia.

This caused several of those Democrat-run cities, such as New York, to declare emergencies.

New York City Mayor Eric Adam reached out to the Biden administration for help and went to the White House several times, but didn’t get any material aid from the Biden administration.

Facing criticism from both parties, President Biden is trying to blame the Republicans for the border crisis.

“I have been clear from the very beginning the system is broken. On my first day in office, I said Congress comprehensive plan and immigration reform. My friends of the other side have done nothing with it,” President Biden claimed during a speech to a bipartisan group at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting at the White House on Friday.

However, Republicans have said that President Biden terminated border protection and essentially invited illegal immigrants to come with loose immigration policies.

On his first day in the White House, President Biden terminated the national emergency at the southern border and halted construction of the border wall.