Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison doesn’t know federal law, even though he served in Congress from 2017 to 2019.
The federal government enforces immigration law. For example, entering America illegally or overstaying a visa are federal crimes.
Ellison told Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) that “immigration is essentially a civil” matter.
Um, what? Civil matters involve a person suing another for damages, personal injury, or breach of contract.
Here is the full exchange:
MORENO: I got a big shot lawyer like you. Just a quick question, if you enter the country illegally or you overstay a visa, should you be deported?ELLISON: My simple answer is, sir, it depends.MORENO: Okay, so somebody breaks into your home, should they be arrested for breaking entering? Or does it depend?ELLISON: It’s an entirely different scenario.MORENO: How’s that?ELLISON: Because immigration is essentially a civil and breaking into my home is a criminal matter.MORENO: Oh, Okay, gotcha. So if there’s, so there’s laws that should be enforced. So we shouldn’t enforce civil violations?ELLISON: We absolutely should enforce them.MORENO: So, but you just said that it’s a civil matter. So it’s different. So if somebody…ELLISON: You enforce civil matters.MORENO: So if somebody commits a civil infraction, it shouldn’t be enforced?ELLISON: It should be.MORENO: Okay. So they should be deported?ELLISON: No. They should have due process that is associated with their petition. So for example…MORENO: The act of entering the country illegally, you think we should say, “Well, did you really do it or not do it?” It’s pretty obvious that they did, right?ELLISON: Well, I mean, it would depend on the facts of the situation, and then they might say…MORENO: I just gave you the facts right. Entered the country without permission.ELLISON: But Senator, what if they had a good faith basis to say they would be persecuted in their home country and subjected to real oppression there, under international law, there are provisions for them to make a case.MORENO: That’s a phenomenal, phenomenal point, Mexico and Canada. Do you consider those to be safe countries? Or no?ELLISON: Generally, I do. But there are…MORENO: Generally you do? Well, you border Canada. Don’t insult your neighbors to the north.ELLISON: No, I love my neighbors.MORENO: Is it a generally safe country?ELLISON: Generally, yes.MORENO: So that somebody seeking asylum could certainly be safe in Canada and Mexico now.ELLISON: Now so like, if somebody we do know that in Mexico, which is another country I truly admire and think it’s a wonderful country, but there have been cases of persecution. People who I have legitimate fear…MORENO: Aren’t safe in Mexico? Refugees cannot be that safe in Mexico?ELLISON: Some might not be, and I think…MORENO: Maybe then we shouldn’t have a free trade agreement with them then.ELLISON: I didn’t say that, but what I would say, Senator, is that we should hear their petition. We should at least hear it out. We should say is, is there a well founded legitimate fear of persecution in your home…MORENO: That can’t happen in Mexico?ELLISON: Well, I think that we should just follow the international protocols that existed.MORENO: And it is, which is that you seek asylum in your nearest country that you are seeking asylum in. But it sounds, it sounds to me, that that your answer is, no.
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