New Hampshire’s newest member of Congress is a “no” to mass deportations of illegal immigrants, including aliens who’ve been convicted of additional crimes. But she’s a “yes” to life-altering sex-change procedures for children.
Those are just two takeaways from U.S. Rep.-elect Maggie Goodlander’s interview with WMUR’s Adam Sexton that aired Sunday. Goodlander’s embrace of positions rejected by voters in November’s election is another sign the New Hampshire Democratic Party doesn’t plan to adjust its policies or positions in response to polls showing most Americans reject them.
The 38-year-old Goodlander even declined to criticize President Joe Biden over his controversial and expansive “blanket pardon” of his son Hunter.
GOODLANDER ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge of instituting “mass deportations” to deal with the estimated 8 million or so illegal aliens and unqualified amnesty seekers who flooded across America’s borders during the Biden presidency. Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, has said the administration will prioritize deporting illegal immigrants with a criminal record.
“It’s going to be public safety threats and national security threats (that) will be the priority,” Homan said.
Trump reiterated that stance on NBC Sunday. “We’re starting with the criminals, and we got to do it. And then we’re starting with others, and we’re going to see how it goes,” he said on Meet The Press.
Asked if she supported removing those criminal illegal immigrants en masse, Goodlander said no.
“I believe in Congress’s role in properly funding our immigration courts and our immigration system and in making sure that we have immigration laws that can meet this moment,” Goodlander said. “I do not believe in sort of suggestions of mass deportations that have no connection to upholding the laws that Congress is responsible for writing.”
Goodlander’s position isn’t popular with the voting public.
Polls show a solid 57 percent of Americans support mass deportation of people in the U.S. illegally. And Gallup polling shows a huge swing in voters’ attitudes about immigration during Biden’s presidency. In May 2020, slightly more Americans wanted to see increased vs. decreased immigration (34 to 28 percent).
By June of this year, support for increased immigration had plunged to 16 percent, while the number supporting decreased immigration soared to 55 percent — a 45 percent swing.
GOODLANDER ON SEX-CHANGE OPERATIONS FOR MINORS
The U.S. Supreme Court last week took up a case filed by the Biden administration and the ACLU challenging Tennessee’s state law banning sex-change procedures, such as hormone therapy on children. Like deporting illegal immigrants, polls show voters overwhelmingly oppose allowing those procedures on minors.
Not Goodlander.
Asked if she believes sex-change surgery on minors is appropriate, Goodlander said she opposed laws banning it.
“I’m not a medical professional, and this is a decision that really resides with doctors and families and patients,” Goodlander said. “And this is not a judgment that I’m equipped to make, or, frankly, any politician should be making.”
The answer is identical to Goodlander’s answer to questions about her support for legal abortion at any point during a pregnancy without any restrictions.
GOODLANDER ON BIDEN’S PARDON
Sexton also asked Goodlander about the battered brand of the Democratic Party and the impact on that brand of Biden’s decision to issue a pardon to his son — a sweeping pardon that covers more than a decade and has been condemned by both Republicans and Democrats.
While Goodlander said she was “concerned about the precedent that the president’s pardon has set,” she pointedly avoided criticizing Biden and his decision during repeated questioning from Sexton. Instead, she used Biden’s decision to attack Trump.
“I am very concerned about the ways in which this precedent could be used by President-elect Trump in the days ahead to undermine the rule of law,” Goodlander said.
Across the country, Democrats are questioning whether their extreme policy stances on immigration and transgender issues cost them the November election. Many Democratic official holders and campaign professionals suggest the party needs to moderate in order to appeal to working-class voters.
But in New Hampshire, party leaders like Goodlander have adopted a stay-the-course stance.
For example, recently retired state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) said Friday he expected Democratic legislators to once again oppose a proposed ban on sanctuary cities, despite overwhelming support from voters.
Lily Tang Williams, the Republican who ran against Goodlander in the Second Congressional District, said she isn’t surprised by Goodlander’s answers.
“Maggie Goodlander, much like Vice President Kamala Harris, talks a lot with comforting words and gestures without saying much,” Williams told NHJournal.
As for the immigration issue, “We already have immigration laws on the books that her former boss Joe Biden undermined by using his pen (to sign executive orders.) The American people support mass deportations of illegals who have committed additional crimes since they first entered the country,” said Williams, who is a naturalized citizen from China.
“And how could Maggie support sex change procedures for minor children? Minors are not able to understand such a life-altering and irreversible damaging gender transition,” said Williams.
“Anyone with common sense should know this.”
