Tipsheet

Sen. Bernie Moreno Just Exposed Keith Ellison's Open Borders Hypocrisy

When it comes to immigration and open borders, the Left is nothing if not hypocritical. During the Grammy Awards, singer Billie Eilish said "no one is illegal on stolen land," but has a walled-off mansion in California, on land that was "stolen" from the Tongva tribe. She hasn't turned over the keys to the Tongva yet, of course. 

They've also set up blockades in and around Minneapolis, where anti-ICE activists are running license plates to check if drivers are affiliated with ICE and demanding identification before people can cross their "borders" so they "know who is in our community." But the expect America to let all comers, including terrorists, drug and human traffickers, and violent criminals to cross our borders with no question.

Today, Minnesota AG Keith Ellison testified before Congress. Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno also took the opportunity to expose how hypocritical Ellison is on the issue.

"Do you think that people who are here in this country illegally, meaning they either entered illegally or overstayed a visa, should be deported? Simple yes or no," Moreno asked. 

Harry Niska, a Republican State Representative from Minnesota, replied, "The rule of law. Yes."

Moreno then asked Ellison.

There was a very pregnant pause before Ellison responded. 

"If they have a pending asylum petition, I think it should be heard. If they have some basis for their presence in the country, I think we...ordinary due process should take place," Ellison said.

"Just from my perspective, it's simple. I'm not a big shot lawyer like you," Moreno said. "Just a quick question: if you enter the country illegal, or if you overstay a visa, should be deported?"

"My simple answer is, sir, it depends," Ellison said. Of course, that's a fancy way of saying "no."

Moreno wasn't going to let Ellison get away with this.

"Okay, so if somebody breaks into your home, should they be arrested for breaking and entering, or does it depend?" Moreno asked.

"It's an entirely different scenario," Ellison replied.

"How's that?" Moreno interjected.

"Immigration is essentially a civil, and breaking into my home is a criminal matter," Ellison replied.

"Oh, okay, got you," Moreno continued. "So there's laws that should be enforced. So we shouldn't enforce civil violations?"

"We absolutely should enforce them," Ellison replied. 

"But you just said that it's a civil matter, so it's different," Moreno said. "So if somebody commits a civil infraction, it shouldn't be enforced?"

"No, it should be," Ellison replied.

"So they should be deported," Moreno said.

"No," Ellison said. "They should have due process that is associated with their petition."

"So 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?"

"It would depend on the facts of the situation," Ellison said.

"I just gave you the facts," Moreno said, cutting Ellison off. "They entered the country without permission."

"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," Ellison replied.

We are not a nation governed by international law.

And this is where Moreno set the trap for Ellison.

"That's a phenomenal, phenomenal point," Moreno said. "Mexico and Canada. Do you consider those to be safe countries or no?"

"Generally I do," Ellison said.

Game. Set. Match. 

"Generally, you do?" Moreno asked. "You border Canada, don't insult your neighbors to the north. So is it a generally safe country?"

"Generally yes," Ellison admitted.

"So then somebody seeking asylum could certainly be safe in Canada and Mexico, no?" Moreno said.

Ellison wouldn't answer his question, because the answer is yes.

Moreno just gave a master class in how to dismantle the Democrats' insane asylum arguments. Illegal immigrants travel through at least one country, sometimes several, to get to the United States. Any of those nations should be safe enough for asylum claims. He's also an immigrant from Colombia, whose family immigrated legally when Moreno was a child.