6 times top Democrats warned against illegal immigration, called for deportations

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, February 05, 2026

1. Bill Clinton: 'A nation of laws'

Former President Bill Clinton made cracking down on illegal immigration a key part of his presidency in the 1990s, stating in his 1995 State of the Union address that Americans were right to be upset about its economic effects.

"All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use imposes burdens on our taxpayers," he said at the time.

"That's why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens."

"We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it," he added, prompting a standing ovation from members of both political parties.

In 1995, Bill Clinton got a standing ovation for “cracking down on illegal hiring” and for “barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens.”

He openly said illegal aliens “imposed burdens on our taxpayers” through public services they used and that the jobs they took “might… pic.twitter.com/k9FZ4aaA3e

— Vigilant Fox ???? (@VigilantFox) January 27, 2026

During the eight years of the Clinton administration, there were approximately 12.3 million deportations, a number that dwarfed those under every administration after him, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

Most recently, Clinton issued a statement on Jan. 25 denouncing the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis while criticizing federal law enforcement for "increasingly aggressive and antagonistic tactics, including impeding investigations by local authorities."