In the latest in a series of surprisingly conservative takes, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is urging his fellow Democrats to “engage” in discussions about national border security. In an interview published on Thursday, Fetterman denounced the idea that Republicans are “xenophobic” for being concerned about unrestricted immigration, citing what he called “astonishing” statistics.
“I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border,” Fetterman said in an interview with Politico. “It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”
The comments from Fetterman, a longtime progressive populist, were published less than 24 hours after Senate Republicans blocked a $111 billion supplemental funding bill amid an ongoing debate over border security. The bill put up for a vote on Wednesday included $66 billion in aid payments for Ukraine, as well as funding for Israel, Taiwan, and U.S. border security. However, Republicans in Congress have refused to consider the bundled solution, insisting that the border funding be prioritized first and the other agenda items be negotiated separately.
But while negotiations over the aid plan have stalled, the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is getting worse by the day. Data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed nearly 270,000 migrant encounters in September alone — a statistic that seems to have shocked even an immigration advocate like Fetterman into action.
Related: John Fetterman Says “America is Not Sending Their Best and Brightest” to D.C.
“Honestly, it’s astonishing. And this isn’t a Fox News kind of statistic. This is the government’s,” he said. “You essentially have Pittsburgh showing up there at the border.”
Fetterman also voiced his frustrations at the stalled aid payments to Israel and Ukraine, describing how he is “appalled” that Congress is willing to “f**k over” the two embattled countries. The senator’s commitment to supporting both nations seems to be a primary motivation in his calls for Democrats to negotiate.
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However, his criticism extended beyond his own party. Earlier this year, he denounced Republicans’ proposed border security measures as an “OnlyFans wish list,” and he rejected any effort to crack down on so-called “Dreamers” brought to the country as children — a group that includes his wife, Gisele.
Despite his strong words for both parties, Fetterman did not offer any concrete proposals for solving the border crisis but rather called for further discussion and compromise.
“I haven’t met anyone that can have a really crisp, cogent solution or easy solution on, ‘Well, what do you do when you have roughly a city similar in size of Pittsburgh coming up to the border?’” he said.
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