On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) stated that we “cannot have uncontrolled migration across the border. That is not acceptable. We see that here in New York City.” and “uncontrolled migration does put downward pressure on wages,” but this is the one issue Republicans have against President Joe Biden.
Himes began by stating that many Republicans “realized that the border is their one remaining political issue against Joe Biden,” and that’s why they don’t want a border deal.
Later, host Katy Tur asked, “I was speaking to a black Democrat out of Chicago who said that she’s a Democrat, but she’s going to vote Republican because she feels frustrated, infuriated, in fact, with the way Democrats, she says, are handling the border, and the benefits and the help that migrants are getting, help that she says the black community has been asking for for decades and is consistently told there’s no money for. So, she sees an imbalance there, and I’ve heard that from others in various cities. Do Democrats — what is the Democratic response to that voter who says she’s gone?”
Himes responded, “Well, I’ve been in politics for a little while now, and you hear a lot of that, on a lot of different issues, we hear it on Israel-Gaza, when people get concerned about a particular issue, they say, this is what I’m going to do in the next election. Now, what’s going to happen is that, in November, I think, it looks like this is going to be the case, we’re going to have Donald Trump, with all that he represented for women’s reproductive rights and for chaos and attacks on democracy, and Joe Biden, you saw the numbers today, 3.3% economic growth. The contrast, you’re not choosing perfection, you’re choosing between two people.”
Tur then cut in to ask if there was a message on immigration.
Himes responded, “Well, so, let’s focus on immigration for a second. We want to do a deal. You cannot have uncontrolled migration across the border. That is not acceptable. We see that here in New York City. It is not acceptable. So, we need to control the border. And yes, uncontrolled migration does put downward pressure on wages, so I understand why people object to the idea, for a whole bunch of reasons. We are there to do the deal, again, don’t take it from me. I heard the President, in the Cabinet Room, say, I will do a big deal. If a deal doesn’t happen, it will be because of the Republicans in the Senate and the House.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
