This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A Democratic congressman has condemned remarks attacking legal immigration into the US by a leading Fox News host as “racist”, amid reports that the Trump administration is working on plans to limit it.

The conservative Laura Ingraham used her TV show to blame immigrants – legal and illegal alike – for destroying “the America we know and love” in comments Wednesday night that drew a swift backlash.

“In some parts of the country, it does seem like the America that we know and love doesn’t exist anymore,” Ingraham said on the cable network.

Ingraham added: “Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people. And they’re changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don’t like,” she said. “From Virginia to California, we see stark examples of how radically in some ways the country has changed. Now, much of this is related to both illegal and in some cases legal immigration.”

'An insult to women': newly hired ex-Fox exec fuels new turmoil at White House Read more

The California representative Ted Lieu was among those blasting Ingraham’s remarks as racist.

“Dear Laura Ingraham: I served on active duty to defend your right to make racist statements,” Lieu, an air force veteran and immigrant from Taiwan, said on Twitter. “America is not a race or demographic. It’s a beautiful & bold idea, based on life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness. You @IngrahamAngle are no more American than I am or others are.”

The Fox personality’s rant comes as the Trump administration is pursuing its latest effort to strictly limit legal immigration – making it more difficult for immigrants to get permission to live in the United States if they have accepted a host of government benefits they are legally eligible for.

Ingraham was responding to comments by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic nominee for a New York congressional seat, who said the fortunes of moderate Democrats representing the interests of the upper middle class have fallen because “that upper middle class doesn’t exist any more in America”.

The Fox anchor mocked Ocasio-Cortez, saying: “As if she knows all of America from her loft in Queens” – although the candidate actually lives in an apartment in the Bronx. But she said the New York progressive was “kinda right in a general sense” because of how the country has changed, before complaining about immigrants “gaming the system” to stay in the country.

“This is a sure way over time to remake and reshape America. This is exactly what socialists like Ocasio-Cortez want: eventually diluting and overwhelming your vote with the votes of others who aren’t, let’s face it, too big on Adam Smith and the federalist papers,” Ingraham said.

In order to vote, immigrants must gain legal status and US citizenship.

Donald Trump, who often rails against illegal immigration, has not limited his policies to targeting unauthorized immigrants, instead seeking to limit legal immigration as well in a push led by the White House adviser Stephen Miller, according to media reports.

As part of Miller’s plan, the administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks to allow authorities to deny visas or green cards to immigrants who have used benefits including food stamps and healthcare subsidies.

The rule, which has been under consideration for months and is expected to be finalized soon, would penalize immigrants who legally use food stamps, children’s health insurance programs, healthcare subsidies available under Obamacare, or the earned income tax credit, according to drafts of the rule obtained by several news organizations.

Federal officials would consider use of those programs as evidence immigrants are likely to become a “public charge”, which hurts their chances of getting a visa or green card.

Miller, a leading immigration hardliner at the White House, is pushing to expedite the changes, CNN reported this week.

The administration has also proposed a plan to dramatically cut the total number of legal immigrants admitted to the country and decide who gets in based on “merit”, ending visa lottery programs and the ability for certain family members of immigrants already in the United States to enter the country legally.

Ingraham cheered Trump on.

“It’s clear that we need a reset on the entire issue of immigration – illegal and legal,” she said in the Wednesday night segment, urging Trump to give a formal address from the Oval Office to present his agenda on the issue.

The host’s remarks drew widespread criticism on social media.

“Let me shorten this for you Laura: you’re racist,” said Neera Tanden, president of the liberal Center for American Progress.

Some fellow conservatives also joined the condemnation.

“Speak for yourself, and every other last gasp of a dying gen, @IngrahamAngle. WE love this country’s diversity,” the conservative commentator SE Cupp said on Twitter.