Bachmann: Executive action allows in 'illiterate' voters

Rep. Michele Bachmann says executive actions on immigration will lead to a flood of “illiterate” Democratic voters.

“The social cost will be profound on the U.S. taxpayer — millions of unskilled, illiterate, foreign nationals coming into the United States who can’t speak the English language,” Bachmann told reporters at the Capitol, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.


“Even though the president says they won’t be able to vote, we all know that many, in all likelihood, will vote,” the Republican lawmaker added. “The president has a very single-minded vision. He’s looking at new voters for 2016.”

When asked by the Post why she used the word “illiterate” to describe immigrants, Bachmann cited her own experience visiting the border and said, “that’s what they told me.”

“Some are, some aren’t,” the Minnesota congresswoman said of the literacy of illegal immigrants. “Those are not Michele Bachmann’s words, those words came from Hispanics who live on the border. … I’m not using a pejorative term against people who are non-American citizens. I’m only repeating what I heard from Hispanic-Americans down at the border. That’s what they told me.”

Obama is set to announce executive actions on Thursday night that will shield 5 million immigrants from deportation.