Senator Chris Murphy calls idea mass immigration is putting US at risk a 'fake problem'

U.S.

Sen.

Chris Murphy, D-Conn., argued on Wednesday that the idea that mass immigration puts the U.S. at risk is a "fake problem." During an interview with Connecticut news outlet the CT Mirror Murphy was asked about the arrests of parents at a bus stop in Danbury by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Murphy said the intent of these arrests was to "terrorize these little kids" before promoting his work to oppose ICE and protect immigrants.

Host John Dankosky then asked Murphy, "Longer term, what can and should be done to solve this problem?" Murphy argued that President Donald Trump's administration was trying to solve a "fake problem" of mass immigration creating more crime rather than fixing an immigration system that appears to operate "without rules." MAMDANI SHRUGS OFF DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONCERNS OVER HIS 'ABOLISH ICE' PUSH "The problem, according to the Trump administration, is a country that has been invaded, a country that is at risk physically because of the presence of people from other countries," Murphy responded.

"That is a fake problem.

That is not a real problem." "Nobody likes to hear this," he added, "but immigrants, first generation immigrants and undocumented immigrants both commit crimes at rates lower than natural-born Americans, than people that are born here in this country.

So if you want to live in a safe community, you are actually better off living in a community with people that just got to the United States of America.

And so we're not seeking to solve ‘a problem’ of migrant crime." Murphy conceded that the U.S. immigration system does "frustrate" Americans across the political spectrum "when we have a system of immigration that appears lawless, that appears without rules." "That you can have your mom or dad or grandmother wait in line for years and years and years and then someone comes across the border who doesn't actually have a legal claim to stay in the U.S. and gets to be here for years.

That's the problem we have to solve," he added.

When asked by a listener whether he would dismantle ICE as an institution, he replied that people need to "tear down ICE and rebuild it" arguing that "this version of ICE should not remain or come back if Democrats control the presidency or Congress." Murphy has drawn scrutiny over his stance on immigration, including past comments stating that Democratic policy has "failed to deliver for the people we care about most, the undocumented Americans that are in this country." Daniel Di Martino, a Manhattan Institute fellow and Venezuelan-born economist, suggested that while Murphy’s point about immigrant crime levels may be technically correct, demographic differences skew those figures.

"It is true that the average immigrant, legal or illegal, is less likely to commit crime.