Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman acknowledged during his Friday appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” that the immigration bill presented by a bipartisan group of senators earlier this year included amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, while nonetheless presenting the legislation as an solution to an issue that is “useful” to Republican and Democratic politicians alike.
Asked by Rogan whether concerns advanced by Republicans about Democrats using immigration to flood swing states with future citizens who are likely to vote for the Democratic Party, the senator acknowledged immigration is “a tough issue,” and cited a lesson from former Senator Alan Simpson, who Fetterman explained taught at his graduate school.
“He said you are never going to have any meaningful immigration kinds of legislation, he’s like, because both sides, it’s useful to them,” Fetterman told Rogan. “And it’s going to be back and forth, back and forth, and he said this 25 years ago.”
Fetterman then argued this political convenience was behind the defeat of the Secure the Border Act of 2023 in May, but was questioned by the podcaster about the effectiveness of the proposed legislation.
The stand up comedian and podcast host asked the senator, “didn’t that deal also involve amnesty, and didn’t that deal also involve a significant number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country every year, I think it was 2 million people?”
Fetterman repeatedly agreed with Rogan, prompting the host to restate Republican concerns over the border bill, as well the possibility Democrats are using illegal immigration to swing states further to the left.
I think one of the most interesting moments of the podcast with @johnfetterman was when we were talking about immigration. I think everyone should understand exactly what is happening. pic.twitter.com/wq00lF0uVk
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) November 3, 2024
“I’m not really sure if that’s really what’s in play. I think it’s really, like, it’s important that we have an honest conversation,” replied Fetterman, before later defending the effects of immigration in border states.
Fetterman told the podcaster, “Undeniably immigration is changing our nation. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas, but it’s very clear, immigration has remade Texas, and I think it’s generally for a good thing.”
The senator’s remarks about immigration come just two years after he was credited for winning his 2022 election against Dr. Mehmet Oz with a pro-immigration message by immigration nonprofit Immigration Hub.
The group noted Fetterman framed the immigration debate around the plight of illegal immigrants who were granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by the federal government, while using public polling about the program to declare immigration critics extreme.
While Fetterman challenged Rogan on immigration, the senator was more willing to concede on voter identification.
“It’s not a hill that I’m saying we have to die on,” Fetterman acknowledged, before calling voter ID “a barrier” that “usually tends to skew more toward people that come from those kind of communities… toward Democratic voters through that.”
Fetterman’s description of voter ID as “not a hill” for Democrats “to die on” came just three years after he called the topic an “insidious and unnecessary” form of “voter suppression” by Republicans.
Watch Fetterman’s full appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience”:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
