A fiery exchange took place at the Senate Budget Committee hearing on Tuesday when Sen. Bernie Moreno asked a former Biden adviser whether illegal immigration into the United States is a crime.
Moreno posed the question to Democrat hearing witness Brendan Duke, a former senior policy adviser in the Biden White House who is now senior director for federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress.
“I don’t know anything about this law,” Duke replied when Moreno asked if the 1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act “made a mistake” barring people from entering the United States illegally, Fox News reported.
WATCH the Exchange:
“Do you think it should be a crime to enter the country illegally?” Moreno asked again.
“I don’t know anything about this. I’m here to talk about budgets,” Duke replied.
Moreno continued: “Look, I’m not a lawyer, you don’t have to be a lawyer. It’s a simple question. Should it be a crime? I’ll say it slowly. Should it be a crime to enter the United States of America illegally — without permission?”
Duke again said he does not know about the specific law, to which Moreno asked Duke if he has a home. Duke said he is a renter.
“Should it be a crime for people to enter your home without permission?” Moreno asked.
“Yes,” Duke answered.
Moreno noted that while Duke is “certain” it is a crime for people to enter his home without permission, the witness was “not sure” whether that applied to the nation as a whole.
“So this is the best that Democrats can come up with. Mr. Chairman, I hope the ranking member can listen for just a second,” Moreno said. “If you don’t mind, this is the best witnesses you’ve got? A guy who can’t distinguish whether it’s OK to have people enter our country illegally? Of all the millions of people that you could have chosen to testify?”
The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) attempted to interrupt, but Moreno said, “Let me finish.”
“The best you have is a guy who has no idea what our immigration law is and isn’t sure if somebody should enter the country illegally. Another guy is a smug guy who obviously has an agenda,” Moreno continued, referring to the previous witness who also declined to adequately answer Moreno’s question.
Merkley accused Moreno of “badgering” witnesses and told him to “ask about the actual facts.”
“Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you speak when it’s your turn? Oh, because we actually take turns,” Moreno replied.
The pair went back and forth before committee chair Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) intervened and the hearing continued.
“Here’s a simple question: is it a crime to enter the country illegally? At least, you’d think that’s an easy question,” Moreno said in a post to X with a clip of the exchange. “But when I asked Joe Biden’s senior policy advisor, he said he didn’t know! Make no mistake: the Biden Border Crisis was a choice. President Trump solved it.”
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