Dem Sen. Welch: Dems Had Lax Border Policies, ‘In Reaction, to Some Extent, to Trump’

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) stated that Democrats failed to have a strong border policy and let millions of people into the country “in reaction, to some extent, to Trump.”

Welch stated, [relevant remarks begin around 1:50] “[W]e, the Democrats, have to do [a really] strong commitment on border enforcement. We have to –.”

Host Laura Ingraham then cut in to ask, “Why haven’t they done it for three-and-a-half years? Why have they let 10 million people into this country that are taking jobs and opportunities and killing people?”

Welch answered, “In my view, I think that it was in reaction, to some extent, to Trump. But I think we have to have a policy that’s absolutely about controlling the border and having immigration be legal. We support controlling the border so that folks who come in are in through a legal process, not an illegal process.”

Welch added that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is “talking about…having legal — having enforcement. And we had, of course, the agreement that was passed by — or it was agreed to by –.”

After Ingraham cut in to criticize the bill, Welch said, “The question on border enforcement is, are you in control of who’s coming in? That’s the question, and are they vetted? Because we don’t want criminals and you don’t want fentanyl. And there [are] enormous pressures on the border.”

Welch concluded, “Democrats are committed to having enforceable borders. … We also want to have legal immigration and we want to have justice and opportunity for a lot of these DREAMers who came over here as kids.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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