WATCH: Dem witness accuses Trump of ‘population purge,’ Kennedy fires back: ‘You trigger my gag reflex’
David Bier, a Democrat-called witness at a Senate Budget Committee hearing Tuesday, drew a sharp rebuke from GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana after accusing the Trump administration of attempting a "population purge" in the U.S.
Earlier in the hearing, Bier, an immigration policy expert at the CATO Institute, argued that both legal and illegal aliens "are a benefit to this country" because they help to reduce the national deficit.
Kennedy ripped into Bier, asking, "What planet did you parachute in from? You trigger my gag reflex."
Bier had just claimed that federal judges opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations "are much braver" than U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
"They are much braver. They put their names on their rulings, and they stand behind their constitutional rulings," said Bier.
He accused the administration of attempting to carry out a "population purge," saying, "They're trying to deport U.S.-born citizens, people born here, they are trying to deport them as well. So, it's not a mass deportation agenda, it is also an agenda intended to reduce the population of the United States, including U.S.-born people."
Earlier in the hearing, Bier had called for "more" immigrants to help address the soaring national deficit.
While being questioned by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Bier said that there are "clear reasons for believing that they are reducing the deficits and debt, they are a benefit to this country, and we need more people who are going to contribute in the future as our population ages."
Bier said "it's easy to understand why" immigrants reduce the deficit "because they work at 12 percentage points higher than the national average, they use less benefits because they're subject to constraints, unique barriers to applying for those benefits, in particular Social Security and Medicare. Those are by far our largest programs, and they're not eligible for those at all if they're here in the country illegally or if they came legally and they don't have a sufficient work history to qualify."
After the hearing, Bier later told Fox News Digital that "this exchange had nothing to do with illegal immigration" and that "the question was about immigration generally."
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED FOR ALLEGEDLY VOTING IN EVERY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SINCE 2008
Despite testifying in a hearing titled "Sanctuary Cities: The Cost of Undermining Law and Order," during which members criticized the mass migration under the Biden administration, Bier posited that more immigration is a positive step for the country.
"According to the Social Security Administration, we need about 35 million more workers in order to keep revenues equal to expenses by the middle of the 2030s," he said. "So, we are at a position right now where immigration is not going to solve it. Obviously, it's not going to solve it, but it is moving us in the right direction."
He praised immigrants, saying, "These are people who are showing up, they're ready to work, they're often prime age individuals who are ready to enter the labor force."
"So, it's a huge benefit fiscally to the United States to have these people who want to contribute to our country," he added.
Bier was not the only one arguing in the hearing that illegal immigrants can improve communities. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., one of the Trump administration’s most outspoken critics, took a similar line, arguing that sanctuary policies actually lower crime, poverty and unemployment.
"Data shows that sanctuary policies actually make communities safer, healthier and more prosperous. That's right, the evidence shows, the research shows sanctuary jurisdictions have lower crime rates, higher median household income, less poverty, less reliance on public assistance, higher labor force participation, and lower unemployment," said Padilla.
"That's right. It seems like sanctuary cities are helping to make America great, I said it," he added.
Likewise, Kennedy was not the only Republican who took issue with Bier. After arguing over whether it was a mistake for Congress to ban people from entering the country illegally, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, slammed Bier as a "smug guy."
"You haven’t answered my question, but that's okay. You're a smug guy, and that's part of your shtick," said Moreno.
After another Democrat-called witness declined to answer the same question, Moreno criticized both, saying, "This is the best that Democrats can come up with."
"This is the best witnesses you've got? A guy who can't distinguish whether it's okay to have people enter our country illegally. Of all the millions of people that you could have chosen to testify … the best you have is a guy who has no idea what our immigration law is, and isn't sure if somebody should enter the country illegally [and] another guy is a smug guy who obviously has an agenda," said Moreno.