Prior to the Biden administration, residents of many states had the luxury of essentially disregarding the issue of illegal immigration that had directly impacted border states for generations. As the border crisis has gotten exponentially worse over the past three years, however, no corner of the country is immune to the unsustainable cost and troubling increase in crime associated with the influx of millions of undocumented immigrants.
As such, the issue of immigration has become one of the most pressing issues on the minds of voters this election year, even in states that are nowhere near the porous U.S.-Mexico border.
Instead of addressing the serious concerns that so many Americans have about the crisis, however, participants in a recent panel discussion on MSNBC opted to laugh at voters who want the nation to enforce its immigration laws and secure the border.
Psaki: “I live in Virginia. Immigration was the number one issue.”
Rachel Maddow: “Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia!”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 6, 2024
The segment aired as results came in from states across the country holding primaries on Tuesday and included hosts Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, and Jen Psaki, who served as President Joe Biden’s first press secretary before joining the left-leaning cable news network.
“And if you look at some of these exit polls, I mean, I live in Virginia; immigration was the number one issue, according, again, these could change,” Psaki began, prompting Reid to laugh out loud.
Maddow chimed in with a comment dripping with mockery.
“Well, Virginia does have a border with West Virginia,” she said. “A very contested area. Build the wall.”
Many critics sounded off on the hosts by referencing the recent news that an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela was arrested in Virginia on charges related to a depraved attack on a child.
An exit poll conducted by NBC News found that Republican primary voters in Virginia identified immigration as the issue that “mattered most” in their decisions. With 37% of those surveyed citing immigration, it came in four points higher than the economy and more than two dozen points higher than either foreign policy or abortion.
“I find that to be particularly interesting,” said political commentator Tim Pool of the exit poll results. “Immigration has become the principal issue in this election, which is crazy.”
He went on to reason, though, that it “always comes down to money,” and given the Biden administration’s agenda to flood undocumented immigrants with taxpayer-funded largesse, the border crisis has in many ways morphed into an economic issue for struggling Americans.
