A young migrant, traveling alone from Guatemala, stands near the Rio Bravo river after crossing the border, to request asylum in the United States, as members of the Texas Army National Guard extend razor wire to inhibit migrants crossing, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – During an interview with a Spanish radio program on Thursday, President Joe Biden inadvertently referred to Hispanic immigrants entering the U.S. illegally as “voters” when talking about the current situation at the southern border.
“It’s even a bigger influx now in terms of Hispanic voters, or Hispanic-Hispanic citizens, who want to become citizens,” President Biden stated while appearing on the popular radio show Chiquibaby.
The President further stated that the current crisis at the border is “a little bit like back in the 1840s and the great exodus of Ireland, because of the famine and the way Irish Catholics were treated. They said, No, no, we don’t need any more of those folks. There was a large influx.”
When the White House was asked by Fox News if the administration supports legalizing noncitizens voting in U.S. elections they stated, “Only American citizens can vote in federal elections. As fact-checkers across the board have made clear, it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.”
According to the Library of Congress, it is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930, and recent Customs and Border Patrol figures show that a total has been passed through illegal immigration in just the last two years, with over 5.26 million migrants illegally entering the U.S. since 2022.
Biden’s comments also come as his administration announced a lawsuit against the state of Iowa on Thursday due to a law that would allow police to start arresting and deporting immigrants on July 1st in the state who have previously been deported or denied entry into the U.S., claiming it violates the U.S. constitution. This law would be the third of its kind passed in recent weeks following Oklahoma and Texas.
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