Former President Bill Clinton set the Democratic Party onto its current course. However, he's beginning to sound more like former President Donald Trump on immigration.
Clinton claimed, "there is a limit" to the number of illegal aliens a nation can take in before it becomes detrimental, Fox News reported. The former president made these remarks on a CNN podcast to host Fareed Zakaria.
The impeached former president complained about "economic migrants" who are "gaming" the system for asylum seekers. He also slammed Republican governors who transported migrants to sanctuary jurisdictions.
"There is a limit to how many migrants any society can take without severe disruption and assistance, and our system is based much more on an assumption that things would be more normal," Clinton told the host. He went on to explain that recent events have triggered a new influx.
"It's an old story, but now you've got the largest number of refugees since World War II because of Syria and now Ukraine and other problems," Clinton said. He also acknowledged the staggering number of migrants pouring in from Venezuela and derided Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending them to Washington, D.C., and New York City.
"What's happening in Venezuela, more than 2 million refugees pouring into first Colombia then nearby countries, has created unprecedented new challenges," Clinton said. He added that this situation "provides opportunities for stunts like Gov. Abbott's — sending his refugees to some place that he thinks is advocating for a broad-minded policy that it doesn't have to live with."
Under Abbott, the Lone Star state recently shipped 10,000 migrants to so-called sanctuary cities. The governor said the move provided "a measure of relief" for border towns and demonstrated "the magnitude of this ongoing crisis is finally gaining the national attention it deserves."
"Americans are now witnessing a startling national security failure that [President Joe Biden] continues to dismiss," Abbott noted in a recent op-ed. Still, Democrats hate how effective it was.