Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Trump administration deporting people illegally here who steal was a “terrible overreach.”
Host Kristen Welker said, “Let’s talk about President Trump’s agenda now, particularly on immigration and the border. Congress, of course, passed a bill to address the border. Some of your Democratic colleagues from border states actually signed on. This is the Laken Riley Act, a bill, just so folks understand, that would effectively allow law enforcement to detain and deport those who have been convicted of theft-related crimes. in a statement explaining his vote your colleague, Arizona’s Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego said this, ‘We must give law enforcement the means to take action when illegal immigrants break the law to prevent situations like what occurred to Laken Riley.’ Who was, of course, killed by someone who was undocumented. You voted no on that. How do you respond to Senator Gallego?”
Schiff said, “Look, the administration already has the authority to detain people that have committed violent crimes for deportation, and they should, but this bill is so broad that if you are a Dreamer and you take a tube of toothpaste from the store, you can be detained for deportation. That, to me, is a terrible overreach.”
He added, “So the president already has the authority. I don’t mind confirming he has the authority, but I don’t want to broaden that to be able to deport Dreamers for taking a tube of toothpaste.”
Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN
