There is no such thing as an ‘illegal immigrant’ | Mehdi Hasan

It is a factually inaccurate and totally, utterly wrong to say that undocumented people are illegal' and are criminals'

On 29 January, the second Trump administration held its first White House press briefing. Of the 3,500 arrests Ice has made so far since President Trump came back into office, can you just tell us the numbers?" asked a reporter in the front row. How many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally?"

All of them," responded the new White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, making her debut in the briefing room, because they illegally broke our nation's laws, and, therefore, they are criminals, as far as this administration goes." She continued: I know the last administration didn't see it that way, so it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal. But that's exactly what they are."

Mehdi Hasan is a broadcaster and author, and a former host on MSNBC. He is also a Guardian US columnist and the editor-in-chief of Zeteo