Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is currently participating in the Republican presidential primary, previously expressed her belief that it is inappropriate to label illegal aliens as criminals. She stated that using such terminology is disrespectful. In July 2015, shortly after Donald Trump, a fellow Republican candidate, made a speech focusing on curbing illegal immigration, Haley participated in a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute, moderated by then-CEO Walter Isaacson.
During the discussion, Isaacson asked Haley about her perspective on the immigration debate, considering her family’s immigrant background from India, and her thoughts on the recent tone of the debate. In response, Haley acknowledged the valid frustrations of Americans regarding illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border. However, she emphasized the importance of refraining from using terms like “criminals” to describe illegal aliens, as she believed it to be inaccurate.
She said:
So I think that what we have to remember and what I’ve always believed is that we’re a country of laws. That is what’s made us strong so it’s incredibly frustrating for a lot of people when they see the illegal immigrants being able to come across. It really is astonishing that after all these years, D.C. can’t figure out how to build a wall. It really is, after all of what they spend.
Having said that, we are a country of immigrants. I am the proud daughter of Indian parents who reminded us every day how blessed we are to live in this country. They resent when people come here illegally. But let’s keep in mind, these people who are wanting to come here, they’re wanting to come for a better life too. They have kids too. They have a heart too, so we don’t need to be disrespectful. We don’t need to talk about them as criminals, they’re not. They’re families that want a better life and they’re desperate to get here.
What we need to do is make sure we have a set of laws that we follow and we go through with that. I think that some things have been said that are unfortunate and wrong but I think we also need to remember, especially for all of us … tone and communication matters and people matter. We don’t ever need to talk about this in a cold-hearted way … be kinder than necessary.
Haley’s previous remarks stand in stark contrast to her recent declarations, in which she has pledged to implement a “catch and deport” approach, preventing the federal government from releasing undocumented immigrants into the interior of the United States.
“What we need to do is when you catch them, you deport them back from where they came,” Haley told Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle in an interview last year.
“You can’t allow them in this country. My parents always said, ‘If someone doesn’t follow the law to come into this country, they won’t follow the law when they get into this country.’ We have got to stop the bleeding,” she said.