Fox News’ Tomi Lahren Thinks Undocumented Immigrants Have Been ‘Comfortable’ Under Donald Trump

Fox News’ Tomi Lahren Thinks Undocumented Immigrants Have Been ‘Comfortable’ Under Donald Trump

Fox News’ Tomi Lahren made the gobsmacking suggestion on Thursday’s edition of Outnumbered that undocumented immigrants in America have “been very comfortable” under Donald Trump’s administration.

Lahren made the comments during a discussion of the day’s Supreme Court decision on whether or not the government can ask about an individual’s citizenship status on the 2020 census form. A bare majority of justices ruled that since evidence has emerged calling into question the Trump administration’s stated rationale for including the question, the lower courts should have the opportunity to evaluate that evidence and consider it in possibly revising their rulings.

A major reason that advocates oppose including the question is that non-citizens who fear deportation might skip answering it. To Lahren, that fear is silly because she thinks the undocumented have had it easy recently:

“I don’t know whether they will or whether they won’t, quite honestly. I think illegal immigrants have been very comfortable in this country, especially for the last two years. I think they would even happily mark that they are not citizens. I think that that has almost become a badge of honor because of the Democrats.”

The last two years have seen increased targeting of immigrant communities by the federal government. The media has been rife with stories of undocumented immigrants who have lived in America for decades being deported away from their families and the lives they have built in the country. Lahren’s suggestion that undocumented immigrants living under the Trump administration have been especially “comfortable” and able to flaunt their status as “a badge of honor” indicates that she might live full-time in Fox’s studio and has not been outside since 2016.

The reason the Trump administration wants to ask the citizenship question is that it will likely lead to undercounting the number of undocumented immigrants and even noncitizens with legal status, thus diluting their political power and other resources when the census is used to draw congressional districts and distribute federal funding for various programs. Since the majority of undocumented are Hispanics, undercounting them hurts Democratic-leaning districts and further entrenches Republicans’ power. Which is why conservatives like Lahren and some of the others on this Outnumbered panel are chomping at the bit to get the question added.

Watch the video above, via Fox News.

Gary Legum

Gary Legum has written about politics and culture for Independent Journal Review, Salon, The Daily Beast, Wonkette, AlterNet and McSweeney's, among others. He currently lives in his native state of Virginia.

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