On Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) said that people in the country illegally who commit crimes should be deported after serving their sentences, but “what the administration is trying to do is now that we’re coming up on the midterms, is they’re trying to gain their footing back on immigration because they’re seeing that people are responding to what ICE is doing in Virginia.”
In response to criticism of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin over an ICE detainer for a suspected killer in Virginia, Subramanyam said, “Well, first of all, my heart goes out to her family and to the community. I know Fairfax County is devastated and this is a tough time right now. But, far be it from the administration to turn this terrible situation into a political moment for themselves so that they can take shots at Abigail Spanberger. That’s what this is really about. Certainly, if anyone commits a crime in the commonwealth, they will be held accountable, and they should be behind bars. And if they’re in the country illegally, they should be deported after they’ve served their time. But the reality is, right now, what we’re seeing is them trying to take this as a moment to score political points when this woman has just been killed.”
Host Blake Burman then asked, “Local media is reporting, Congressman, there in Fairfax County, that there have been nine people who have been killed this year by eight suspects. Four of them, of the suspects, are illegal immigrants. Doesn’t — does something need to be done?”
Subramanyam responded, “Absolutely. And we need to make sure there’s law and order, and I’ve been very consistent that, if someone is in the country illegally and they commit a crime, they should absolutely be held accountable and we should look into deporting them, because we should not be having people come in illegally and then committing crimes. That’s the reality of it. But what the administration is trying to do is now that we’re coming up on the midterms, is they’re trying to gain their footing back on immigration because they’re seeing that people are responding to what ICE is doing in Virginia.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
Read the full article here