Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) agreed with an activist's claim on Monday that a southern border wall cuts off "indigenous people" from being in the United States.
Gillibrand, one of a growing field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, said while campaigning in Iowa that she agreed with Christine Nobiss's assessment of there being a "crisis" at the border. Nobiss is a Native American and "Decolonizer" with Seeding Sovereignty, an activist organization with a self-described aim to "seed paths of personal, community, cultural, and energy sovereignty by amplifying voices of new leaders working to stop violence to womxn and Mother Earth."
"It's inhumane," Gillibrand said. "This president doesn't believe in asylum. He's afraid of immigrants. He's afraid of refugees. We need to be accepting more refugees, and we need to have a holistic, humane process to take on these asylum claims."
Nobiss said she wanted to note "a lot of these people are indigenous to this land, and that border is cutting them off."
"I know," Gillibrand said. "That's why the wall is so absurd and hurtful."
Gillibrand, now one of the most liberal members of Congress, previously held tough views against illegal immigration when she represented a more conservative district in upstate New York. Now, she even supports allowing illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.
Like other Democrats, she opposes President Donald Trump's efforts to construct a southern border wall to combat illegal immigration.