
President Joe Biden recently used the term “illegal” during his partisan State of the Union address to describe the millions of foreign nationals crossing the southern border, prompting criticisms from Democrats.
During his speech, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupted the president to force him into referencing Laken Riley — a 22-year-old nursing student who was recently murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
After Greene interjected, Biden briefly stopped reading from the teleprompter and pronounced Riley’s first name incorrectly, calling her “Lincoln.”
“Lincoln Riley!” the president said. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right. But how many of the thousands of people being killed by illegals? To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you having lost children myself. I understand.”
Despite pointing out that thousands of American families have had relatives murdered by illegal immigrants, Biden said amnesty should be granted to the millions of unlawful migrants in the U.S., adding that Republicans should pass legislation sponsored by Democrats to secure the border.
Although Biden pushed for leftist policies, many Democrats in the House chamber were upset with the president’s use of the term “illegal.”
Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) expressed his disappointment with Biden’s comments on illegal immigration.
“As a proud immigrant, I’m extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word ‘illegal,’” Garcia wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As a proud immigrant, I'm extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word "illegal."
— Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) March 8, 2024
Like Garcia, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) criticized Biden for using “dehumanizing” language when referencing the foreign nationals at the southern border.
“Disappointed that @POTUS would use such dehumanizing right wing rhetoric to speak about immigrants tonight. No human being is illegal,” Ramirez said on social media.
Disappointed that @POTUS would use such dehumanizing right wing rhetoric to speak about immigrants tonight. No human being is illegal. #SOTU
— Delia Ramirez (@DeliaRamirezIL) March 8, 2024
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) also shared Ramirez’s claim that no human is illegal.
“Let me be clear: No human being is illegal,” Omar said shortly after Biden’s address.
Multiple other Democrats said they wished Biden had just ignored Greene.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) — the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — told the Associated Press (AP) that she was disappointed with the terminology Biden used to describe illegal immigrants.
“I wish he hadn’t engaged with Marjorie Taylor Greene and used the word illegal,” Jayapal said.