Last Updated on January 30, 2023
The managing editor of the Babylon Bee, a rightwing satire news site, stirred up controversy through a series of tweets posted recently.
Joel Berry took to Twitter to advocate for amnesty and mass illegal immigration within the United States. In a Jan. 26 tweet, Berry said “mass immigration could save this country” before claiming most immigrants “are hard-working, mostly Christian/Catholic,” and “culturally conservative.”
Berry called it “a fact that first-generation Americans” are “more likely to have traditional families” and suggested immigrants will vote Republican despite Democrats attempting to “immediately hook them on welfare and turn them into a permanent underclass voting bloc.”
It's a fact that first-generation Americans are more hard-working, more appreciative of America's blessings, and more likely to have traditional families. The democrats want to bring these people in, keep them poor, and destroy their culture, just like they did to black Americans
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) January 26, 2023
A 2018 survey carried out by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) contests less than 15% of immigrants are registered members of the Republican party. “Among naturalized citizens in our surveys who are registered to vote, 56% are registered Democrats, 28% are independents, 14% are Republicans, and 2% are registered with other parties,” the PPIC survey stated.
The Babylon Bee managing editor was asked if he was vouching for “mass legal [immigration] or mass illegal [immigration].” Affirming he was supporting illegal immigration, Berry called legal immigration “nearly impossible because our immigration system is an absolute mess.”
Data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics recorded over 22 million legal immigrants have joined the U.S. since 2000. In 2020 and 2021 over 700,00 legal immigrants have entered the country.
RELATED: Senate Democrats Push Amnesty for 11 Million Illegal Aliens
Rightwing influencers jumped to counter-signal Berry’s slew of pro-illegal immigration tweets.
Breitbart’s Spencer Lindquist claimed “mass immigration and amnesty is the most surefire way to establish Democrat one party rule.” “California hasn’t voted for the GOP since the 1986 amnesty. In virtually every election since, Democrat Party affiliation has increased while Republican Party affiliation has decreased,” Lindquist wrote.
Political and cultural commentator Mike Cernovich responded to Berry’s tweet with a link to two articles refuting the idea that immigrants will bolster the GOP. “It’s been tried for decades and always failed,” Cernovich said.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) January 26, 2023
In later tweets, Berry also knocked the idea that white Europeans founded Western Civilization and made a proposal supporting amnesty. “Western Civilization was invented by the Greeks and Jews while white Europeans were still naked savages dancing around campfires,” Berry tweeted.
Berry’s amnesty proposal would require all illegal immigrants gaining citizenship to join the military, create their own job, put their children in private school, have a family, and not be allowed to vote for a decade.
Proposal for amnesty:
-Can’t vote for 10 years
-4 yrs required military service for men
-Can’t take an existing job-have to create your own
-No public school-kids must attend private school funded by private charities
-Only family units-no single men— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) January 26, 2023
“You think it’s a good idea to take millions of people, give them military training, and then make them second class citizens? Are you not connecting the dots here?” Twitter user Zachary Miller asked of Berry’s amnesty plan.
In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimated at least 11 million illegal aliens currently live in the U.S.
Berry’s employer, the Babylon Bee, defines itself as “the world’s best satire site, totally inerrant in all its truth claims.” They “write satire about Christian stuff, political stuff, and everyday life.”
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
RELATED: Senate Democrats Push Amnesty for 11 Million Illegal Aliens