At a tense Senate Budget Committee hearing on Tuesday, immigration policy expert David Bier sparked a heated exchange after accusing the Trump administration of carrying out what he called a “population purge,” Fox News reports. His sharp criticism of immigration enforcement policies prompted fierce backlash from several Republican senators.
Bier, an analyst at the CATO Institute and a witness called by Democrats, argued that both legal and illegal immigrants strengthen the nation’s economy and help reduce the federal deficit. He reportedly praised immigrants, saying, “These are people who are showing up, they’re ready to work, they’re often prime age individuals who are ready to enter the labor force.”
“So, it’s a huge benefit fiscally to the United States to have these people who want to contribute to our country,” he continued.
Pressed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD), Bier explained that immigrants tend to work at higher rates than native-born Americans while using fewer government benefits due to eligibility restrictions for programs like Social Security and Medicare.
“It’s easy to understand why” immigrants reduce the deficit “because they work at 12 percentage points higher than the national average, they use less benefits because they’re subject to constraints, unique barriers to applying for those benefits, in particular Social Security and Medicare,” Bier said. “Those are by far our largest programs, and they’re not eligible for those at all if they’re here in the country illegally or if they came legally and they don’t have a sufficient work history to qualify.”
But that argument didn’t sit well with GOP Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. Clearly irritated, Kennedy snapped, “What planet did you parachute in from? You trigger my gag reflex.”
The exchange came moments after Bier suggested that federal judges who opposed Trump’s immigration crackdowns were “braver” than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers because “they stand behind their constitutional rulings.”
Bier’s most controversial comment came when he claimed the Trump team’s deportation efforts targeted not only illegal immigrants but also natural-born citizens. “They’re trying to deport U.S.-born citizens, people born here, they are trying to deport them as well. So, it’s not a mass deportation agenda, it is also an agenda intended to reduce the population of the United States, including U.S.-born people,” he argued.
Bier wasn’t the only voice during the hearing defending illegal immigrants. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., countered claims that sanctuary policies harm communities. “Data shows that sanctuary policies actually make communities safer, healthier and more prosperous,” Padilla asserted. “That’s right, the evidence shows, the research shows sanctuary jurisdictions have lower crime rates, higher median household income, less poverty, less reliance on public assistance, higher labor force participation, and lower unemployment,” said Padilla.
“That’s right. It seems like sanctuary cities are helping to make America great, I said it,” he added.
Following the hearing, Bier told Fox News Digital that his testimony wasn’t centered on illegal immigration specifically. “The question was about immigration generally,” he clarified. “This exchange had nothing to do with illegal immigration.”