Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, blamed Americans’ continued struggles to afford food and housing on President Donald Trump’s border policies.
Inflation was one of the key issues that dogged then-President Biden’s presidency, particularly since his partisan American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 compounded the problem. When Trump won the election, many ascribed his victory to not only confidence that he would reduce inflation, but that he would solve America’s immigration crisis, which has been his flagship issue since he first ran for office.
CBS News host Major Garrett spoke to Crockett about this key issue, noting that there is a consistent, though slim, majority of Americans who back Trump up on immigration.
“Are you getting something wrong in interpreting where the public on that issue actually is?” he asked.
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Rep. Crockett slammed the Trump administration for its immigration policies. (CBS News)
Crockett denied being wrong, arguing instead that the American people simply need to be better informed. She said the reason Americans can’t afford things today is because of Trump’s “failed” immigration policies.
“One thing I can tell you, is that if you sit down and you say, ‘Are you okay with your grocery prices? Are you okay with the fact that housing prices are going up?’ and you start to connect how important it is for us to have immigrants that are contributing to our country in this way, then, people may start to shift,” Crockett said.
The congresswoman claimed she had just spoken with a group in her office who told her “we need to do more on immigration, because they don’t have the workers that they need, and they are in the construction realm.”
“So I am telling you, this is a failed thing, but we have to do better to connect the dots and let people know the reason you can’t afford a home is because of these failed immigration policies,” she claimed. “The reason you are not going to be able to afford your food is because of these failed immigration policies. And the same can go for hospitality industries where we have so many of those in the hospitality industry that are saying they do not have the workers that they need right now.”
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Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett claimed that people have complained that the lack of migrant workers is hurting their businesses. (Left: Joy Malone/Getty Images; Right: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday said that the consumer price index (CPI) — a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost — decreased 0.1% in March compared with last month, while it was up 2.4% on an annual basis.
Both of the figures were cooler than the estimates of LSEG economists, and represented a cooling from February, when it rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and headline inflation was 2.8%.
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Fox News Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
