WATCH: Byron Donalds turns tables on NBC host after she presses him over ‘due process’ for iIlegal aliens

May 6, 2025

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From the Daily Caller: NBC News host Kristen Welker suggested illegal immigrants are entitled to “due process” under the Constitution, prompting Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds to argue that the sheer number of illegal border crossings under former President Joe Biden has made that untenable.

There were about 8.5 million migrant encounters along the U.S southern border from fiscal years 2021 to 2024 under Biden, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While Welker cited the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of “due process” for any individual in the United States, Donalds responded that the Constitution’s framers did not foresee a president enabling millions of illegal entries.

“First and foremost, when the framers wrote our Constitution, they never envisioned that there would be an executive that would allow millions of people to come into the country illegally. They never fathomed that,” Donalds said. “Number two, more importantly, you have a situation right now — is it okay for any administration to not follow the law, abuse border security laws, let millions of people in, and then hide behind a court system to say, ‘Well, now they’re here, so now we have to go through a lengthy process’?”

“Let’s examine this right now. Right now what we know is that when people came into the country illegally, almost 90% of them would not even go to the hearings,” he continued. “So if you’re supposed to show up for a hearing and you do not go, what are we supposed to do as a country at that point?”

Welker claimed if each illegal alien didn’t get “due process”, the Trump administration wouldn’t be following the Constitution.

Donalds pushed back, noting that the Biden administration abused America’s immigration laws and allowed so many millions of illegal aliens into the country that it is not even physically possible to hire enough judges to process each one. He said it would take 15 years to achieve that.

“When it comes to due process, that is a privilege reserved for American citizens,” Donalds said, adding, “When people are in our country illegally, there is a semblance of due process, but not nearly at the level of a U.S. citizen. There are two different standards.”

Welker tried to argue, reading from the Constitution, which calls for due process to “any person.” She claimed that applies for both citizens and noncitizens. Donald retorted that America’s founders would have never anticipated that any president would allow millions of people to come into the country illegally.

He also argued that it was not ok for the Biden administration to not follow the law and allow millions of people into the country illegally, then “hide behind the court system” and say that because they’re here, we have to go through a lengthy process to get them out.

WATCH the entire segment below, as Donalds continued to fire right back when Welker repeatedly tried to imply that the illegal aliens were not getting “due process.”

Sharing one clip from the interview, Donalds wrote, “Due process is reserved for AMERICAN CITIZENS. Those who enter our country are GUESTS in the US. When you illegally enter our country, you aren’t even our guest––you broke our law the minute you crossed our border, you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN, and you are subject to DEPORTATION.”

Due process is reserved for AMERICAN CITIZENS.

Those who enter our country are GUESTS in the US.

When you illegally enter our country, you aren't even our guest––you broke our law the minute you crossed our border, you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN, and you are subject to DEPORTATION. pic.twitter.com/wKA4rcX6iI

— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) May 6, 2025