An overwhelming majority of voters have no issue with the term “illegal immigrant” after President Joe Biden expressed his regret for using the term during the State of the Union address.
Seventy-three percent of voters said it is “appropriate” to use the term “illegal immigrant” and 68% accept the term “undocumented immigrants,” according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.
New Harvard/Harris poll: 73% of voters are fine with the term “illegal immigrant” https://t.co/040hUdQ9dl pic.twitter.com/DJwRMuffFJ
— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) March 25, 2024
Liberals raged at Biden for referring to Augusta University student Laken Riley’s alleged murderer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, as “an illegal” during the State of the Union address. Biden addressed the murder after Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled him to mention Riley’s name, he referred to her as “an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal” and butchered her name, calling her “Lincoln.”
“An undocumented person. And I shouldn’t have used illegal, it’s undocumented,” Biden said on “MSNBC Reports.” “And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was is the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do. What I won’t do.” (RELATED: Laken Riley’s Father Speaks Out For First Time, Accuses Biden Of Using His Daughter)
Another 63% of voters said they were informed about Riley’s murder and 70% said the case proves the U.S. needs stricter immigration laws, according to the poll, which examined 2,111 registered voters online between March 20 and 21.
Riley’s alleged murderer is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who was released into the U.S. after crossing the border in El Paso, Texas. After his initial arrest on Sept. 8, 2022, he was “paroled and released for further processing.” He was later arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Aug. 31, 2023, and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17. Officials released him before a detainer could be issued.
Another illegal immigrant from Venezuela, named Renzo Mendoza Montes, was arrested in February for allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Virginia. He was arrested by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in 2023 for illegally entering the U.S. and was subsequently released in September.
MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid mocked Virginia voters for prioritizing illegal immigration as a major issue in an exit poll following the report on the 14-year-old sexual assault victim.