A GOP lawmaker has warned that “good people are getting caught up in the in the wash” of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration drive.
State Rep. Kasey Carpenter told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that he believes the Republican Party must “make a turn on this issue” because places like his district in Georgia rely on immigration.
A core tenet of Trump’s election campaign was a promise to crack down on “criminal” immigration and since starting his second term many immigrants in the U.S. have faced harassment, deportations—in some cases wrongfully—and incentive schemes to self-deport.
Carpenter has called on the administration to alter the controversial and hardline policy, warning that it may turn into a “problem, not only in elections, but just moving forward as a country.”
The Georgia Rep. said his district relies on “legal immigration” and that “there’s no way around” the fact that local businesses need additional labor.
“The reality is there’s industries, construction, manufacturing, hospitality industries that require these immigrants,” he said. “They are not taking American jobs; they’re doing jobs a lot of times that Americans don’t want to do.”
Carpenter said that while “nobody” in his “deep red district” wants “criminals here” there should be recognition that those who have “been here 20 years… are of value to our community.”
“People are heartbroken because a lot of these people that are getting detained are good people. Like I said, these are kids, that have gone to high school, that we’ve educated, that everybody else’s kids know that play sports with them. I mean, these are not people that you want to see leave your community,” he added.
“It’s a very complex issue and it’s not black and white.”
Trump’s immigration crackdown has been mired by mistakes including the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, accidental raids of citizens’ homes, the detention of lawful residents, and the deportation of two children who were U.S. citizens.
But the Republican president has forged forward with his policies and in early May ordered the Department of Homeland Security to boost the number of ICE officers by 20,000—up from the current 6,000.
With the announcement, Trump said Homeland Security could begin “deputizing and contracting with state and local law enforcement officers, former federal officers, officers and personnel within other federal agencies, and other individuals” to boost the number of officers.
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