Pete Buttigieg Isn’t Down With Democratic Socialists’ Immigration Policy: Criminals ‘Have to Be Deported’

Pete Buttigieg said he is not a fan of Democratic Socialist candidates and other Democrats who advocate for open borders during a Friday interview on Fox News.

America Reports host Sandra Smith told the ex-Transportation secretary a new Fox News poll showed only 7% of Americans believe all illegal immigrants should be allowed to remain in the U.S.

But she added the Democratic Socialists of America playbook wants to “let everybody” in.

“Where do you stand on immigration?” she then asked. “And should deportations continue to happen or just those that have committed crimes? Where specifically are you standing?”

“I disagree with the idea you would just let everybody in,” Buttigieg said. “And I think most of us in this country do agree that if somebody has committed a crime, they have to be deported. They have to be held accountable and they have to face justice.”

He added, “there also have to be ways for people to have some way to get in line and earn citizenship, especially people who were brought here as children.”

“There’s a lot of folks in your party who disagree with that,” Smith said.

“There are some, yeah,” Buttigieg answered. “I don’t agree with everybody in my party on everything, but I think most Democrats and actually, interestingly, most Americans agree on the broad picture of what to do.”

Smith’s question on immigration comes after several democratic socialist candidates have won Democratic primaries recently. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has called for abolishing ICE — a position which jives with the DSA.

The DSA in 2019 wrote it has an “open borders” policy, which “supports the uninhibited transnational free movement of people, demilitarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, abolition of the agencies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, decriminalization of immigration, and a pathway to citizenship for all non-citizen residents.”

President Donald Trump’s immigration policy architect Stephen Miller said the administration has the polar opposite view. He said during a radio interview last week the White House would be working with financial institutions to de-bank illegal immigrants — a move he said will be a “major driver of self-deportation.”

Buttigieg on Friday said many Americans voted for Trump in 2024 primarily because of his border policy. But he said Dems have a chance to win the immigration debate because Trump has “broken promises” on it.

Watch above.

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