Republican Sen. John Kennedy scoffed as David J. Bier of the Cato Institute outlined how the Trump administration has openly demanded “ethnic cleansing” through the deportation of 100 million people.
David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, testifies before the Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration at the US Capitol on February 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Julia Conley
Mar 11, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
A Republican senator on Tuesday accused an immigration policy expert of “hyperbole” in his condemnation of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration agenda during a hearing—but the witness, David J. Bier of the libertarian Cato Institute, emphasized that the administration’s own words and policies have clearly pointed to a goal of expelling millions of citizens from the United States.
At a hearing on sanctuary cities held by the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) read a post Bier wrote on social media in December 2025 in which he said Trump administration officials “think they can troll their way into us accepting ethnic cleansing,” suggesting it was one of many “hyperbolic statements” that discredit Bier.
Bier, the director of immigration studies for the Cato Institute, has spent the past year tracking the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, in which a majority of people who have been detained have had no criminal convictions, despite the White House’s persistent claims it is targeting “the worst of the worst” violent criminals.
He was unfazed by Kennedy’s questioning, quickly replying that his comment was in response to a social media post by the Department of Homeland Security’s official account in which the agency shared an image of a Cadillac on a beach, featuring the message, “America after 100 million deportations.”
“That was in regard to a Department of Homeland Security post about advocating 100 million deportations,” said Bier as the senator attempted to talk over him. “One hundred million deportations would be ethnic cleansing. You would be removing one-third of country.”
Kennedy didn’t respond, instead reading a post Bier wrote on March 2 which said: “If you rule against Trump’s population purge agenda... the nativists will name you, threaten you, and come after you. These judges are much braver than the [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents who hide behind masks while violating the Constitution.”
Bier stood by his defense of judges; his post had been in reference to a “60 Minutes” interview given by US District Judge John Coughenour, who described a hoax in which law enforcement showed up at his house after getting a report that he had murdered his wife. He also received a bomb threat, with both incidents taking place after he ruled against Trump’s executive order aimed at ending the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.
The Cato expert also defended his reference to a “population purge,” saying: “I’m talking about the fact that they’re trying to deport US 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.”
“These are not hyperbolic statements,” he said as Kennedy hurled insults at Bier, asking “what planet” he was from and telling him he triggered the senator’s “gag reflex” before being cut off by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Kennedy also accused Bier of making a “hyperbolic statement” on February 11, when he posted on the social media platform Bluesky that in addition to advising US military officers to refuse to carry out illegal orders, Democratic members of Congress should warn them “to refuse unethical orders.”
Bier readily defended his remark, asking Kennedy: “Do you disagree with it? You think people should do unethical things?” The senator didn’t respond.
It was unclear whether Kennedy was unfamiliar with the president’s plan to strip people of their US citizenship—one of the first efforts of his second term, with the executive order signed just after he took office—or if he was simply “looking for fundraising sound bites,” as one Cato Institute staffer posited.
Bier said Wednesday that it was the second time in a month that Kennedy has appeared “shocked” to learn about the policies of the president he has supported for nearly a decade.
“Just a month earlier I had explained to him how the Trump administration has already banned HALF of all legal immigrants to the US,” said Bier, pointing to his testimony from February in which he explained how the White House has suspended immigrant visas and US Citizenship and Immigration Services benefit applications.
The hearing on sanctuary cities was subtitled “The Cost of Undermining Law and Order,” but Bier focused his testimony on the Cato Institute’s extensive research that’s found immigration has reduced government deficits by at least $14.5 trillion over the last 30 years.
“I was invited to the Budget Committee because of this comprehensive study Cato published, not to discuss random tweets,” said Bier. “The Democrats all wanted to talk substance. The other side name-called. Incredible contrast.”
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