NewsNation political analyst Chris Stirewalt delivered a blistering critique of both major parties Wednesday, arguing that Democrats and Republicans alike should be “ashamed” of the nation’s dysfunctional immigration system. Speaking on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Stirewalt told host Katie Pavlich that the system has been “broken for a long time, and everybody knows it.”
“Both of these parties should be ashamed of the fact that we have an incoherent, ridiculous immigration system in the United States,” Stirewalt said, adding that regardless of one’s preferred policy direction—whether more permissive or more restrictive—the status quo is indefensible.
Bipartisan Bill Blocked by Senate GOP
Stirewalt singled out Senate Republicans for blocking a bipartisan immigration compromise in 2024. That legislation aimed to speed up migrant screening at the border, boost funding for enforcement agencies, and expand legal pathways to status. But after then-candidate Donald Trump urged lawmakers to oppose it, a majority of Senate Republicans voted against advancing the measure.
Once Trump returned to the White House, Stirewalt noted, Republican majorities in both chambers “didn’t do anything except give the president money and power for enforcement.” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed without any Democratic support, allocated $170.7 billion for immigration and border enforcement to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and the Pentagon for southern border operations. ICE and Border Patrol received an additional $64 billion through reconciliation legislation that funds the agencies through Trump’s second term.
Democrats’ Own Failures
But Stirewalt didn’t spare Democrats. He accused them of similar inaction during the Obama administration, when they controlled both chambers of Congress and the presidency. “They didn’t fix the immigration system when they had control,” he said. “They just looked to him to do it by executive order.”
The result is a system that has not seen comprehensive reform in decades, even as the undocumented population hit an estimated 14 million in 2023, according to Pew Research. As of April, more than 3.5 million migrants had pending cases before immigration courts, per the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Recent developments underscore the ongoing dysfunction. A federal appeals court blocked the release of a Palestinian student in an immigration case, while the Trump administration reportedly considers requiring green card applicants to post a $100,000 bond. Critics argue that immigration courts have been gutted, with due process under attack as judges are fired and replaced by deportation officers. Meanwhile, high-profile incidents like the death of Lorenzo Salgado and the citizenship debate around soccer star Folarin Balogun continue to expose the system’s flaws.
Stirewalt’s broadside comes as a poll shows most Jewish Americans feel unrepresented by both major parties, and analysts warn of a socialist uprising in New York primaries that threatens both parties. For Stirewalt, the immigration crisis is just one more symptom of a broken political system where neither party is willing to make the hard choices necessary for reform.
