House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) faced backlash Friday afternoon after she was accused of exploiting migrants for cheap labor by stating at a press conference that migrants were needed to “pick the crops.”
Pelosi’s comments were in apparent reference to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) sending 50 illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard earlier this month, a move that enraged the political Left.
“Right now, the best thing that we can do for our economy is comprehensive immigration reform,” Pelosi said. “We have a shortage of workers in our country, and you see even in Florida, some of the farmers and the growers saying: ‘Why are you shipping these immigrants up north? We need them to pick the crops down here.’”
Pelosi’s remarks generated some of the following responses from notable figures:
- Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): “It’s clear Pelosi and Democrats are exploiting illegal aliens and only view them as cheap labor. This is what real racism looks like.”
- Caleb Hull, digital strategist: “I want you to imagine for a second what would happen if Trump said ‘we need the immigrants down south to pick our crops’ instead of Pelosi.”
- Miranda Devine, author: “Apart from the fact she can’t speak properly, and is nasty, it’s illegal to employ illegal migrants. It’s also disastrous for a country not to make a distinction between legal and illegal migration. At least we have less than six weeks left of this piece of Pelosi.”
- Will Cain, Fox News host: “So this isn’t racist? No? Is it because she’s a Democrat? Also, yes she sounds like a plantation owner, but what she’s advocating for is literally illegal!”
- Rich Lowry, author: “A massive and uncontrolled wave of illegal immigration isn’t a solution to anything, but this is how they think.”
- The Federation for American Immigration Reform: “For Democrats, mass immigration checks two boxes: 1. More future voters 2. Cheap foreign labor.”