Biden faces ‘beyond disappointed’ Democrats after calling suspected killer ‘an illegal’

Immigrants’ rights groups and Democratic officials have criticised President Joe Biden’s off-script description of an undocumented immigrant as “an illegal,” drawing comparisons to Donald Trump’s dehumanising language and warning that the administration is bending to Republican pressure on immigration.

Responding to jeers from far-right US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene in the middle of his State of the Union address on Thursday, the president echoed Ms Greene by calling the Venezuelan immigrant who allegedly killed Laken Riley “an illegal”.

“An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That’s right,” Mr Biden said. “But how many thousands of people, being killed by legals? To her parents I say, and my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand.”

Though he appeared to be referencing Ms Greene’s remarks, Latino members of Congress and members from immigrant backgrounds reminded the president that “no human being is illegal.”

Mr Biden’s own campaign chair Mitch Landrieu agreed that “he probably should’ve used a different word, and I think he would know that.”

“But what you should notice about that is not that he made a small mistake,” he told CNN on Friday. “The big thing that he didn’t write, and this is what this president always does, is express empathy to people, he expressed kindness to people. He understands because, as you know, he lost a number of children in his life.”

Democratic US Rep Chuy Garcia, among Latino members of Congress who criticised Mr Biden’s remarks, said he was “beyond disappointed” to hear the president’s use of the word “illegal” as a noun.

“Beyond this, the president missed an opportunity to unite our country on immigration. He did not lay out a plan that addresses