Democratic Senator Explains That ‘Undocumented Americans’ Are the People His Party ‘Care About Most’

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) declared that “undocumented Americans” — presumably a reference to migrants in the country illegally — were “the people we [Democrats] care about most” in an appearance on All In With Chris Hayes Wednesday night.

In a discussion about the now-defunct border and foreign aid bill rejected by congressional Republicans, Hayes teed Murphy up by noting that in his 20 years of covering the issue of illegal immigration, the trade that is typically made gives Republicans more border security and Democrats a pathway to citizenship.

“This time around, the negotiation didn’t have a path to citizenship. It was entirely on their [Republicans’] terms in order to get Ukraine funding, right?” asked Hayes.

“Well, I mean, Chris, that’s been a failed play for 20 years. So you are right that that has been the Democratic strategy for 30 years, maybe, and it has failed to deliver for the people we care about most, the undocumented Americans that are in this country,” replied Murphy. “This is also not 2013 any longer. When we ran that play last back then, there were a couple hundred people showing up every day applying for asylum. Today, on some days, there are 8,000. And the reality is, is that the bulk of this country does not think that that’s right or sustainable and wants us to change the reality at the border.”

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