Democratic Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost is calling for a pathway to citizenship for every illegal immigrant living in the United States.
Frost, a left-wing House Democrat who traveled to El Salvador in April to advocate for the release of suspected human smuggler and MS-13 gangbanger Kilmar Abrego Garcia, argued at a press conference in his central Florida district Wednesday that foreign nationals living in the United States with no legal status have not committed any crimes. The Florida Democrat’s appeal for mass amnesty comes as a majority of Americans approve of the president’s goal to deport illegal immigrants, according to recent polling. (RELATED: Democrats Enjoyed Luxury Resort’s Comforts While Protesting Deportation Of Alleged MS-13 Gangbanger)
“I want to be clear: being undocumented in this country is not a crime,” Frost said at a press conference Wednesday. “To my Republican colleagues who say, ‘I don’t want any undocumented people in this country,’ I actually agree with you. So let’s document every single one of them.”
More than 11 million illegal immigrants were living in the United States as of 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. That number is likely far higher today following the unprecedented level of illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border during the rest of former President Joe Biden’s term.
House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, criticized Frost’s support for mass amnesty, signaling the Florida Democrat’s remarks could be a political boon to Republicans during the midterms.
“Maxwell Frost just said the quiet part out loud: Democrats don’t want secure borders,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement. “They want to fundamentally transform our country with mass amnesty for every single illegal immigrant, and this is exactly why voters don’t trust a word they say.”
Less than 20% of likely voters in battleground districts across the country approve of Democrats’ handling of immigration, amounting to a 58% net-negative rating, according to a June survey from a Democrat-aligned polling firm
The Florida Democrat unveiled legislation at the press conference to place new requirements on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to publicly list information about illegal immigrants they detain. He slammed ICE’s work to carry out the president’s deportation agenda, calling the agency’s efforts “terrorism in our communities.”
He proceeded to call on ICE agents to resign, claiming they are participating in work that is tantamount to “some of the worst horrors and crimes” that have occurred in human history.
“We also have to talk about the [ICE] agents themselves that are carrying this out,” Frost said. “If you have any decency, quit now. Go do something else. Because just doing what you’re told has been the justification for some of the worst horrors and crimes against humanity in the history of not just this nation but the world.”
Frost is not alone among the House Democratic Caucus in espousing a far-left message on immigration. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign has repeatedly called for the abolition of ICE in the past several weeks. Her colleague, Democratic Vermont Rep. Becca Balint, has criticized the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, claiming that without migrant labor “we’re not going to have anybody around to wipe our asses.”
Some Democratic lawmakers, conversely, are shifting right on immigration following the Democratic Party’s struggles at the ballot box last November.
Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who is carving out a moderate streak in the upper chamber, said in May that illegal immigrants living in the United States who have committed a crime should return home.
A spokesperson for Frost did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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