Last Sunday, NBC News’ Kristen Welker tried to trap Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on illegal immigration and due process, even whipping out the Constitution to show that these people, some of whom are terrorists, gang members, child rapists, and the like, should be afforded a chance to fight their deportation.
First, people who are designated to get the boot from the United States seldom win in court. Second, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton deported hundreds of thousands of people—I doubt they each got a trial, so it is different. Third, as Donalds noted, the Founder never envisioned an American president would purposefully allow the nation to be invaded by hordes of third-world dwellers. They’re leaving, one way or another (via Daily Caller):
🚨NEW: Byron Donalds TURNS TABLES on Kristen Welker after she presses him on "due process" for illegal immigrants🚨
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) May 5, 2025
DONALDS: "When the framers wrote our Constitution, they never envisioned that there would be an executive that would allow millions of people to come into the… pic.twitter.com/OIUn4VqKto
NBC News host Kristen Welker suggested illegal immigrants are entitled to “due process” under the Constitution, prompting Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds to argue that the sheer number of illegal border crossings under former President Joe Biden has made that untenable.
There were about 8.5 million migrant encounters along the U.S southern border from fiscal years 2021 to 2024 under Biden, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While Welker cited the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of “due process” for any individual in the United States, Donalds responded that the Constitution’s framers did not foresee a president enabling millions of illegal entries.
“First and foremost, when the framers wrote our Constitution, they never envisioned that there would be an executive that would allow millions of people to come into the country illegally. They never fathomed that,” Donalds said. “Number two, more importantly, you have a situation right now — is it okay for any administration to not follow the law, abuse border security laws, let millions of people in, and then hide behind a court system to say, ‘Well, now they’re here, so now we have to go through a lengthy process’?”
“Let’s examine this right now. Right now what we know is that when people came into the country illegally, almost 90% of them would not even go to the hearings,” he continued. “So if you’re supposed to show up for a hearing and you do not go, what are we supposed to do as a country at that point?”
It’s absurd that no one cared that these illegal aliens were pouring into our country, but now, each one needs a trial before they get deported. No due process is coming in, but every legal obstacle is being shipped out. It’s a recipe for courts to be ignored, and its legitimacy is questioned because it’s ridiculous.
Round them up and ship them out. Also, it’s not the first time Donalds got baited by Welker.
Kristen Welker tries a "gotcha" question on Byron Donalds and he easily shuts her down.
— Red Alert Florida (@RedAlertFlorida) February 25, 2024
Meet The Press, 2/25/2024. pic.twitter.com/GVYHvdRivH
Join the conversation as a VIP Member