Fetterman has also been very outspoken about his support for Israel, as some of his fellow Democrats have not
Biden should take a page from Fetterman and show full support for Israel: Beverly Hallberg
Beverly Hallberg, president of the District Media Group, discusses the growing divide within the Democratic Party over the Israel-Hamas war after pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said that he hopes Democrats know that it "isn't xenophobic" to be worried about the southern border and argued that the Democratic Party should engage in debates about it.
"I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border," Fetterman told Politico. "It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage."
Fetterman cited the near 270,000 border encounters in September, according to the outlet, and said it was "astonishing."
"You essentially have Pittsburgh showing up there at the border," he added.
Sen. John Fetterman called on fellow Democrats to engage in debates about the southern border on Thursday as congressional negotiations on a border security deal continue in Congress. (Bill Clark)
Fetterman added that he wouldn't support any legislation that put Dreamers in "harms way," Politico reported.
Senate Republicans blocked billions of dollars in additional security aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, on Wednesday and called on President Biden to focus on funding for the southern border.
"Legislation that doesn't include policy changes to secure our borders will not pass the Senate," McConnell told GOP senators to vote against the legislation. "The situation unfolding at our southern border on President Biden's watch is a crisis of historic proportions."
Fetterman acknowledged immigration was a complicated issue, and said he doesn't know anyone who has come up with an easy solution.
President Joe Biden speaks about the economy and the deal between the United Auto Workers (UAW) Union and the big-three automakers, in Belvidere, Illinois, on November 9, 2023. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
BORDER PATROL STOPS RECORD NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON TERROR WATCH LIST AT SOUTHERN BORDER
"I haven't met anyone that can have a really crisp, cogent solution or easy solution on, ‘Well, what do you do when you have roughly a city similar in size of Pittsburgh coming up to the border?’" he said, according to Politico.
Fetterman has also been outspoken about his support for Israel following Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
He criticized claims that Israel was committing war crimes while retaliating and said Hamas must be destroyed.
Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. (Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Let’s not forget what Hamas started. They broke the first cease-fire, and then they attacked Israel and murdered over 1,200 innocent women, children, babies, everything, and brutalized it in the most unspeakable kinds of ways," Fetterman argued.
"But, I do fundamentally believe that Israel must destroy Hamas to achieve conditions that allow for peace to prosper," he said.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
