Jasmine Crockett says we need illegal immigrants because they clean our hotels and pick our food
Crockett reportedly made the comments while speaking at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival on March 8.
In a video clip that went viral on Friday, Crockett made the point that Americans don't send their kids to college in the hope that they'll end up picking crops and cleaning hotel rooms, but that's what illegal immigrants do.
"How many of you are sending your kids to college?" Crockett asked the crowd. "How many of you are sending your kids to college to go and work on the farms?"
After no response, Crockett added, "Okay, so, guess who is working the farms so that you can afford your food? So that you can have food."
The congresswoman continued to make her point that Americans don't want their college-educated kids to provide these services and goods.
"Now, how many of you are looking to send your kids into hospitality after this college education so that they can go and make the beds at the hotels?" she asked.
"How many of you are planning to send your kids to college — because that's what we do, we send everybody to college — how many of you are planning to send your kids to college so that they can then go and build these houses?" she continued.
"So the reality is, as long as we live in a capitalistic society, there's always going to be someone, or a group of people, that will do work that some of the rest of y'all don't want to do," Crockett said.
"These are the people who are really making us great in this country. They pay into taxes. And guess what? They're not able to pull down on Social Security. So to have people going out disparaging them and targeting them, that is not what makes us great," she concluded.
Crockett was on stage with journalist Errin Haines, editor-at-large of The 19th News. Haines posted the clip to her social media earlier this week before it was re-shared on X on Friday, where it picked up over 1 million views in four hours.
In the caption for the original video, Haines said she asked Crockett about President Donald Trump's efforts to "significantly restrict immigration," including authorizing immigration law enforcement to raid churches and schools and rolling back funding for sanctuary states and cities.
Crockett isn't the only Democrat who has made this argument in recent years.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., made similar comments last year, saying the country needed "many illegal immigrants" or our vegetables would "rot in the ground."
In 2023, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz also said vegetables in her state would start "rotting" due to an anti-illegal immigration law.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in 2022 that farmers need illegal immigrants "to pick the crops" in Florida.
Crockett drew attention last week for claiming that entering the country illegally was "not a crime," despite it being a violation of federal law.
Improper entry into the United States is considered a federal misdemeanor crime in violation of 8 USC 1325, punishable by fines and up to six months in jail for first-time offenders. Repeat offenders can be subjected to fines and up to two years in prison.
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