Arkansas Democrat Hallie Shoffner’s belief that America would be better off with trading American workers for illegal immigrants is “appalling and disqualifying,” according to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R., Ark.).
Sanders told the Washington Reporter that the job of a “U.S. Senator should be protecting Americans, not trading them for illegal immigrants.” Sanders’s criticisms of Shoffner came after the Arkansas Democrat told a podcast host that she would like to “trade five Americans just for one of them [illegal immigrants] because of how hard they work.”
“I’m proud to join Senator Cotton and President [Donald] Trump to secure our border and remove violent illegals,” Sanders continued. “Under my leadership, Arkansas has banned sanctuary cities, empowered our state police to go after violent drug cartels, and handed down harsher penalties to illegals who commit additional crimes while in our state.”
Shoffner, who is challenging Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), has struggled to gain traction even as her fellow Democrats in red states see momentum heading their direction as Election Day approaches. Arkansas political observers have told the Reporter for weeks that Shoffner’s illegal immigration gaffe has cost her on the ground, as have her admissions for voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Since Governor Sanders’s comments, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Shoffner knowingly hired three illegal immigrants, filling out false W2 forms to avoid detection.
Shoffner’s candidacy is also threatening that of another Arkansas Democrat who is attempting to ride a potential blue wave into Washington, D.C.: Chris Jones, who is challenging Rep. French Hill (R., Ark.). Jones was convincingly defeated by Sanders in 2022, but he is hoping for better luck against Hill in the Little Rock-based district. Sanders is also expected to easily defeat Democrat Fredrick Love, giving Jones little help from the top of his ticket in that race as well.
