Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), co-chair of President Biden’s 2024 campaign, slammed former President Trump over his inflammatory immigration comments in a recent Time magazine interview.
Trump vowed to implement mass deportations if re-elected, repeating falsehoods about immigrant criminality and numbers. Escobar condemned Trump’s rhetoric as “troubling and dangerous,” saying it goes against American values.
She criticized his plan to use local law enforcement and the National Guard to enforce immigration laws, citing his praise for former President Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” and his threat to use the military, labeling undocumented immigrants as “not civilians” and an “invasion.”
Escobar highlighted the consequences of Trump’s language, recalling the 2019 El Paso shooting, where a gunman motivated by anti-Mexican sentiment killed 23 people. She emphasized that Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric has real-world consequences and that “we cannot go back” to such harmful policies.
Trump also downplayed the need for new detention camps, saying deportations would happen quickly, but Escobar noted that repatriations are limited by resources and international cooperation. Time magazine fact-checked Trump’s statements, debunking his claims on undocumented immigrant numbers and the definition of “civilian.”
Escobar urged Americans to reject Trump’s “attacks on immigrants, mothers, and children” and instead seek solutions at the border.
She emphasized the importance of reelecting President Biden and Vice President Harris, citing the stakes of the election and the need to reject authoritarianism. The Biden team also criticized Trump’s comments on abortion, denouncing his suggestion that states should monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute them for having an abortion.