Politics

‘We Certainly Don’t Want Any More Coming In’: Pelosi On Immigration In 2008

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that she didn’t want any more immigrants coming into the country in 2008, showing a change of tune when compared to some of her comments in 2019.

The Democratic representative discussed securing the border as the “first principle” when talking about immigration in 2008. Pelosi said there was a need to address this issue as well as undocumented people in America.

The country didn’t “want any more [immigrants] coming in,” according to Pelosi.

“Securing the border is the first principle that we all have when we talk about the immigration issue,” Pelosi told reporters in 2008. “While we need to address the issue of immigration and the challenge we have of undocumented people in our country, we certainly don’t want any more coming in.”

“There’s no question that we support some of the alts — secure our border, enforce our law, protect our workers, address the issue of undocumented people in our country and their families,” she said.

Pelosi’s stance on illegal immigration has changed. She warned illegal immigrants not to open the door for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a press conference on July 11 as the Trump administration prepared for mass raids around the country.

“An ICE deportation warrant is not the same as a search warrant,” Pelosi told reporters. “If that is the only document ICE brings to a home raid, agents do not have the legal right to enter a home. If ICE agents don’t have a warrant signed by a judge, a person may refuse to open the door and let them in.”

Pelosi called the raids “heartless” and appealed to religious groups to try to get them called off by the Trump administration. She also reportedly said that violating immigration status is not a reason for deportation during a phone call with President Donald Trump in June.

“I said, ‘A violation of status is not a reason for deportation,’ that’s just not so,” Pelosi said she told Trump. “If you have some case you want to make about somebody who’s been accused … that has nothing to do with violation of status, because then we’re talking about over 10 million people who may be subjected to this treatment, and what we need there is comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.”