Author Michelle Malkin denies anti-Semitism accusations, decries illegal immigration

Conservative author Michelle Malkin denied accusations of anti-Semitism and pushed for stricter immigration control during a College Republicans event on Monday night.

Malkin came to Penn to promote her newest book "Open Borders Inc.: Who's Funding America's Destruction?" and fiercely pushed her vision of a stricter immigration policy. She also specifically criticized Penn's policies regarding undocumented students.

In the week before she came to campus, liberal-leaning outlet Media Matters described comments Malkin made on Fox and Friends as anti-Semitic, comparing them to the conspiracy theories that motivated the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter. 

At the event, Malkin denied accusations of anti-Semitism, and said she is "the proud wife of a grandson of Ukrainian Jews who came to this country to escape pogroms," that she loved the members of her Jewish family, and that she is "a proud supporter of Israel, but more importantly, a proud supporter of American sovereignty." 

Media Matters is also "propaganda," Malkin said, to loud applause.

"I am the child of legal immigrants to this family. I have immigrant family members in this audience that I love and that I am incredibly proud of," Malkin said. "I am not an immigrant hater. I am an America lover."

Malkin also criticized the University's status as a sanctuary campus.

Malkin read from Penn's November 2016 statement that vowed Penn would "not allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP)/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on our campus unless required by warrant." Penn's statement also said the University would refuse to "share any information about any undocumented student with these agencies unless presented with valid legal process."

Malkin said this policy essentially granted undocumented immigrants more rights than American citizens have.

"Sanctuary policies across the country have made every single resident of this country more unsafe," Malkin said. "Because once again what you're doing is constructing these walls that block communication between federal immigration agents and everyone else."

Malkin described the situation at the United States-Mexico border as an "invasion" and decried that the use of the word invasion and "illegal alien" was frowned upon in modern society. She cited the Associated Press handbook style guide, which states that journalists should not use the term "illegal" to describe people.

Politico reported that the Trump administration was considering plans to limit the number of refugees accepted to the United States to essentially zero, a move which Malkin greeted.

"Does that make us cruel? Does that make us inhumane? Does that make us stingy? No," she said. "We still remain the most generous, over-generous, and compassionate nation in the world, when it comes to welcoming people."

Malkin criticized the Obama administration's DACA policy, which shielded people from deportation and gave hundreds of thousands of people work permits.

"There are limits to the amount of compassion that any sovereign nation must enforce, before that sovereignty completely dissipates," Malkin said.

Malkin also criticized the view that President Donald Trump caused children to be separated from families and being put in cages. She also called out 2020 Democratic presidential candidates saying they want higher wages for American workers.

"Well, they support that massive influx of low-wage workers who are suppressing those wages for Americans," Malkin said.

Less than 10 minutes into her talk, Malkin brought up The Daily Pennsylvanian's coverage preceding her event. Citing the DP's reporting, Malkin read the article's headline and personally criticized the DP reporter.

"Let me give you a direct analogy of what an article might look like, if you were accused of say, pedophilia," Malkin said. "'After accusations of pedophilia, Daily Pennsylvanian writer Grant Bianco to attend Michelle Malkin's speech.'"

Turning her attention to criticism of Trump as anti-Semitic, Malkin claimed that Trump's close relationship with Israel proved he was not anti-Semitic.

"We have the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history, every single day being labeled an anti-Semite," Malkin said. "It doesn't matter he's the best friend of Israel. It doesn't matter he has practicing Jewish members of his own family, including his own son-in-law and his daughter. It doesn't matter that my brown skin is much darker than yours, gentleman over there," Malkin said, pointing at Bianco. "It makes it impossible to have rational discussions about where this money is coming from, how it's being spent, and who's responsible for sabotaging American sovereignty."