MSNBC host scolds co-host for saying 'illegal immigrant' on program: We say 'undocumented'

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MSNBC host scolds co-host for saying 'illegal immigrant' on program: We say 'undocumented'

MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend corrected her co-host when he used the term "illegal aliens" in a debate about immigration policy in a second Trump term.

MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend corrected her co-host Michael Steele on Saturday when he used the term "illegal immigrant" during an on-air debate with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts. 

Steele began asking their guest to clarify his position on "illegal immigrants" in the country before being interrupted by Sanders-Townsend.

"I want to be clear," Sanders-Townsend told Steele. "We don’t use the term ‘illegal.’ Undocumented individuals."

"That’s sweet," Roberts responded. "They’re illegal aliens."

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MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend corrected fellow MSNBC analyst Michael Steele on Saturday when he used the term "illegal immigrant" in a debate about immigration with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.  (MSNBC)

"Undocumented individuals," Steele said after the correction by Sanders-Townsend. 

"What you're saying is because you have this instance of individuals behaving badly then that's a reflection of every individual in that community," Steele told Roberts after he pointed to recent murders by illegal immigrants. 

"In Texas," Sanders-Townsend also told Roberts, "undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime." 

"Tell that to the survivors of these people," Roberts responded, referring to the murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley by a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela. 

"Tell that to the survivors of the young lady killed in Georgia," he added. "What do you tell the parents of those people, those young girls who were killed?" 

"You are weaponizing a horrific murder to smear 11 million people," Sanders-Townsend later told Roberts.

"That is a laughable assertion," Roberts said. "What Joe Biden is doing is weaponizing the entire government against every American." 

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"Well, first of all, we need to close the border," Roberts said. (Christian Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Roberts was also asked how a conservative administration could successfully deport illegal immigrants. 

"Well, first of all, we need to close the border," Roberts said. "And secondly, we need to have the biggest mass deportation system ever in the history of America because it is unjust and illegal and evil that more than 10 million illegal aliens have come to this country. It’s imperative that we send those people back, invite them back to come through the legal system. We love immigrants and heritage, but we also love the rule of law."

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"How do you plan to carry that out?" Sanders-Townsend asked. "Are you talking about going door-to-door?"

"There’s going to be a lot of self-deportation," Roberts said, explaining that the "Department of Homeland Security" would help "return these people back to south of the border."