In a hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, ripped Republicans for leaning on conspiracy theories around immigration and the southern border that the Maryland Democrat tied to white supremacy.
Concerned observers have linked some Republican rhetoric to what’s termed the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which alleges an intentional “replacement” of original populations with arriving immigrants.
Just recently, Donald Trump — the continued front-runner for Republicans’ presidential nomination this year — claimed without real-world evidence that Democrats were aiming to sign up undocumented immigrants to vote, clearly hearkening to those same lies. In general, Republicans allege an “invasion” at the border, and the claim has even circulated that foreign criminal organizations have taken operational control in the area. It’s all nonsense. As figures actually involved with such efforts have repeatedly attested to Congress, enforcement of federal rules continues.
Trump himself has tried implicating President Joe Biden in some kind of direct responsibility for the imaginary invasion — again connecting to those extreme-right lies.
“These divisive tactics are accompanied by dangerous rhetoric,” Raskin said. “MAGA Republicans continue to invoke white supremacist, anti-immigrant fantasies and conspiracy theories. It has been almost a full year since I invited Chairman Comer and my Republican colleagues to join Oversight Democrats in condemning the false Great Replacement Theory, and still they fail to denounce this shameful conspiracy theory, which has been invoked by numerous antisemitic mass shooters and murderers across the country.” Language alleging an “invasion” has appeared in such screeds. Despite such developments, Republicans’ utilization of the clearly false rhetoric continues.
Raskin expressed frustrations with Republicans’ insistence upon their partisan ambitions in border policy. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has outright rejected the prospect of $14 billion proposed by the Biden administration for border efforts. Johnson called it somehow not sufficient, seemingly pushing instead for policy changes rather than necessarily additional funding at all, though that proposal includes hiring new personnel, which would expand operations.
