Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly reportedly said Monday that the Republican Party already has the tools to end illegal immigration — but lacks the political will.
On her SiriusXM program, The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly argued that if Republicans were serious about solving the crisis at the southern border, they would implement E-Verify, the federal employment verification system. “If they really wanted these illegals out, they would implement E-Verify, and we would get millions of them out like that overnight,” Kelly said during a conversation with journalist Michael Shellenberger.
The former Fox News anchor contended that resistance within the GOP comes not from the grassroots but from business interests. “They won’t do it because the Republican Party is still half run by the Chamber of Commerce Republicans who hire all these illegals on their businesses and their farms and what have you. And they really don’t want to see Trump do that,” she said.
Kelly’s comments come as President Donald Trump intensifies his second-term immigration crackdown. Over the weekend, he ordered Border Patrol agents into Democratic-led cities, including Chicago, escalating what his administration calls a national security emergency.
Kelly said Trump’s approach appeals to voters eager for strong action. “This he likes because it’s muscular, and it makes him look tough. People would like to see this happen. I think people on the right are thrilled to see this happen,” she explained. “People on the left act like it’s absolutely horrific what we’re doing. We’re back in the middle of the Nuremberg trials or we need them for these people.”
Congress laid the groundwork for E-Verify nearly three decades ago. In 1996, lawmakers passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), directing federal agencies to pilot a system to confirm employment eligibility. That system became E-Verify, “a free internet-based system that implements the requirements of IIRIRA by allowing any U.S. employer to electronically confirm the employment eligibility of its newly hired employees,” according to the program’s website.
Some states, such as Alabama, Arizona, Georgia and Mississippi, now require E-Verify for all or most employers. Others, including California, Illinois and Nevada, have rejected or even prohibited its mandatory use.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has touted its record on enforcement. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 2 million illegal immigrants have either been deported or self-deported since January. “The Trump administration is on pace to shatter historic records and deport nearly 600,000 illegal aliens by the end of President Donald Trump’s first year since returning to office,” DHS said in a press release. The department estimated that 1.6 million individuals have voluntarily self-deported, while more than 400,000 have been forcibly removed.
But the surge in operations has also led to growing hostility toward law enforcement officers, administration officials say. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokeswoman, warned that “dangerous rhetoric is contributing to ICE law enforcement officers facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them as they carry out enforcement operations.”
Some Democrats have compared ICE agents to authoritarian regimes. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has called the agency a “modern-day Gestapo,” while Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas likened its officers to “slave patrols.”
Trump’s allies, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan, say such attacks only embolden lawbreakers. Kelly, for her part, believes the real scandal lies in Republican timidity. “That’s the only reason that makes sense for why he wouldn’t do it,” she said of Trump and E-Verify.
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