On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) responded to polling data showing support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and more deportations by saying that “I do not hear that same level of xenophobia that we see in the polling.”
After a segment on polling data showing that Trump has positive net approval on immigration, a plurality of people think the country is on the right track on immigration, most people support deporting all illegal immigrants, and most independents want to deport more illegal immigrants, host Jake Tapper asked, “So, you just heard CNN’s Harry Enten that voters generally back Trump’s immigration policies. Today in the Oval Office, President Trump said illegal immigration was, ‘the biggest reason’ he won re-election. He might be right about that. Do you think that your party is missing something on this issue?”
Casten responded, “I’d question that polling. Because when you tell people the stories, you get very different answers. Ask somebody whether they think an Afghani national who helped the U.S. troops find Osama bin Laden and now feels threatened at home and is here on an asylum case because they can’t be sure they’ll be safe at home and is under temporary protected status, but not here legally yet, should that person be deported? Should a DREAMer who has fought for our military, should that person be deported? Should a farm worker who travels back and forth with the seasonal crop, should that person be deported? Should somebody who came here to study for college, fell in love, had a kid, and now has overstayed their visa? These personal stories, people have a much different answer.”
Tapper then cut in to ask, “Do you think we in the media aren’t telling those stories? The media — look, the media [tell] plenty of stories like that. And we’re not asking about individual A or individual B, we’re talking about the deportation policy writ large. And there has been a change in public opinion on this in the last eight years, away from your position and towards President Trump’s position.”
Casten answered, “I can only speak about what I’m hearing at home and as I travel around Illinois, Jake, and I do not hear that same level of xenophobia that we see in the polling. And I think the difference is that most people are fundamentally good at all they hear is the soundbite, they take that in a certain way. If they hear the individual story, they take it in a different way.”
Tapper followed up, “So, you think that people who want people who are in this country illegally to be deported are xenophobic? Is it not possible that maybe they have other — I’m sure some of them are xenophobic, don’t get me wrong. But like, is it not possible that others think, hey, we need to have an organized, functioning immigration system? Hey, if you’re in this country illegally, you shouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be allowed to be in any other country illegally. Is it not possible that there are other things at play?”
Casten responded, “No, I guess the point I’m making, Jake, is that we have always, through the course of our history, had demagogues who have demonized whoever was the recent immigrant population that comes here, and that always has a certain amount of political saliency. It had saliency when the Italians said we shouldn’t welcome the Irish. It had saliency when the Irish said we shouldn’t welcome the Chinese. There’s nothing particularly new about this moment. What I hear when I talk to folks at home is concern about like — in the last administration, yes, there was a general concern that if you didn’t follow the law, you shouldn’t be here, and everybody agrees with that. There was also a recognition that the agricultural sectors of Illinois [depend] a lot on farm workers, and there aren’t enough bodies to fill those jobs, that our restaurants and kitchens all depend on folks who are coming here, and I think you can have those conversations and you can uplift people if you choose to do so, or you can fall in the trap of demagoguery. And when we have a president who traffics in demagoguery, it’s not surprising that that infects the public discourse. It’s also not surprising that those of us who are in positions of leadership can actually lead public opinion, we don’t have to just follow it.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
The post Dem Rep. Casten on Polls Showing Support for More Deportations: I Don’t See That ‘Level of Xenophobia’ appeared first on Breitbart.
