MSNBC anchor corrects her correspondent on-air: They're 'undocumented immigrants'

The DEA arrested nearly 50 illegal immigrants in Colorado Sunday

MSNBC anchor corrects correspondent on illegal immigrant reporting: 'We call them undocumented'

MSNBC anchor Alex Witt corrected her correspondent Priya Sridhar live on the air during a segment Sunday after Sridhar used the term "illegal aliens."

MSNBC correspondent Priya Sridhar was corrected on-air by network anchor Alex Witt on Sunday after using the term "illegal aliens" instead of "undocumented immigrants."

Sridhar reported on active-duty troops being sent to El Paso, Texas to block illegal border crossings and assist in arresting and deporting illegal immigrants. During her segment on "Alex Witt Reports," she shifted to a report on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) taking nearly 50 illegal immigrants into custody in Colorado.

"I want you guys to take a look at this video that we saw just this morning from the DEA, ATF, and Homeland Security investigators out of the Rocky Mountain Field Division in Colorado," Sridhar said. "There you can see a raid that was conducted this morning. They say that they were targeting a Venezuelan gang, and they were able to see cash, seize cash, weapons and actually made an arrest of ‘50 illegal aliens’ right there, Alex."

Migrants Venezuela border security

Border encounters have dropped significantly since President Donald Trump took office. (Customs and Border Protection)

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"Yes, we call them undocumented immigrants," Witt said. "But that, again, was in the release from the DEA. Okay. Thank you very much, Priya, for that from El Paso."

A similar instance happened on MSNBC in June when MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend corrected her co-host Michael Steele on-air after Steele used the term "illegal immigrants."

"I want to be clear," Sanders-Townsend told Steele. "We don’t use the term ‘illegal.’ Undocumented individuals."

MSNBC screenshot

MSNBC's Alex Witt corrected Priya Sridhar for not using the term "undocumented immigrants." (MSNBC screenshot)

Within the first day of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made more than 460 arrests of illegal immigrants, including those with criminal histories that include sexual assault, domestic violence and drug and weapons crimes.

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Multiple Department of Homeland Security sources also told Fox News Digital that the number of Border Patrol encounters at the southern border in the first three days of the Trump administration was 35% lower than the final three days of the Biden administration.

In the final three days of the Biden administration, there were 3,908 encounters in total. In the first three days of the Trump administration, there were 2,523 encounters.

Deportation flight out of U.S.

The Trump administration deported hundreds of illegal immigrants within his first day of office. (White House)

These actions followed President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency on the border, launching a massive deportation operation across several cities and states.

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @lmkornick.

Authored by Lindsay Kornick via FoxNews January 26th 2025