Democratic leaders criticized President Biden for referring to the Venezuelan immigrant accused of killing Georgia student Laken Riley as “illegal” during his State of the Union address.
Nancy Pelosi said Biden should have used the term “undocumented” instead. Rep. Joaquin Castro claimed Biden’s language was similar to Donald Trump’s rhetoric that targets Latinos.
“Now he should have said undocumented, but that’s not a big thing, ok? What’s the big thing?” Pelosi said.
Biden’s words were “dangerously close to language from Donald Trump that puts a target on the backs of Latinos everywhere,” Rep. Joaquin Castro said.
Biden was also mocked for appearing to mistake Riley’s name as “Lincoln Riley,” the USC football coach, when pressed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to “say her name.”
“It’s not about him. It’s not about me. I’d be a winner… ” Biden began.
“Say Laken Riley — say her name,” Greene yelled.
“Lincoln — Lincoln Riley,” Biden said. “An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right, but how many of the thousands of people being killed by legals — to her parents?”
The incident highlighted ongoing partisan divides around immigration terminology and enforcement, as Democrats prefer terms like “undocumented” while Republicans emphasize identifying criminal immigrants as “illegal.”
As a proud immigrant, I'm extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word "illegal."
— Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) March 8, 2024
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