Hillary facing backlash over immigration comments

By Jerry McConway
updated on February 17, 2026

Over the last few days, one of the videos that has been blowing up is Hillary Clinton in a major reversal on immigration.

I believe this was because the party was making a pivot to take advantage of the negative polling against Trump to implement some border changes to pacify voters who wanted the borders locked down but do not support Trump’s methods.

I still believe I am right, but Democratic strategist Maya Rupert is now calling out Hillary’s approach.

Taking a shot at Trump

Hillary Clinton just pivoted from backing every step Joe Biden took regarding the border to saying that Biden went too far.

Not before she took a shot at Trump, having stated, “This crisis in Minneapolis reveals a deep moral rot at the heart of Trump’s movement.”

She continued, “’The cruelty is the point,’ as The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer memorably put it during Trump’s first term. The savagery is a feature, not a bug.”

So, we are back to the morality issue of it, but Hillary then made her pivot.

Have to fix this

Now, before I give you Hillary’s new comments, go back and look at her X feed and her interviews on immigration while Biden was in office. She had the opportunity to call this out in real time, but she went along for the ride.

Hillary just pitched the new narrative, stating, "There is a legitimate reason to have a debate about things like migration.”

Hillary continued, "It went too far, it's been disruptive and destabilizing, and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don't torture and kill people and how we're going to have a strong family structure because it is at the base of civilization.”

Where was this three years ago, after five million people came into the country? Where was it during Biden’s last year? I don’t believe Hillary makes that statement unless the party as a whole approved it.

Not so fast

Rupert ripped Hillary for the pivot, responding, "Well, I appreciate Secretary Clinton, but I think honestly it is a mistake for Democrats to adopt that sort of positioning. And I think really Republican talking points around immigration, I think that it's not a matter of 'did it go too far.' There was a point at which we talked about immigration as a holistic thing, it was a comprehensive system."

She continued, "I think that we make a mistake when we just sort of paint over all of that and focus on who was the biggest deporter, and were they able to do it humanely. That’s not all of our immigration system.”

Hillary sounded more like the Hillary of old, from when Bill was in office, as well as Barack Obama’s first term, having stated during that time, "I think we’ve gotta have tough conditions, tell people to come out of the shadows. If they’ve committed a crime, deport them. No questions asked, they’re gone.”

The pre-2012 Democrats were just as hard on illegal immigration as Republicans, if not harder, actually, but the second term of Obama changed their stance, and Trump truly changed everything. I think Democrats got the message in the 2024 election, and now they are just trying to figure out how to make that pivot. But it sure would be entertaining to see the media turn on them. If Rupert’s comments are the norm, Dems are in for a rough ride.

About Jerry McConway

Jerry McConway is the Senior Editorial Director at American Digest Media, as well as the featured columnist on Real Talk Digest. He has been covering politics for more than a decade. His no-nonsense writing style makes him enemy number one in DC. His mission is to tell the truth to readers, good or bad, something the mainstream media has failed to do for decades. What sets Jerry apart from his competition is reader loyalty. They don't always agree with him, but they know he tells them the truth. Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him.

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