Rep. Jamie Raskin Declares Thomas Paine Was an Undocumented Immigrant – Twitchy

Last November, this editor published a VIP post about a hot take: the Founding Fathers were all immigrants.

The Founders of America were literally immigrants. https://t.co/VXHnQhTNEx

— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) November 17, 2025

Immigrants to what country? People were happy to inform the poster that they might have been settlers, and that the vast majority of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were born in the colonies.

The issue has come up again, with Rep. Jamie Raskin informing a House committee that Thomas Paine, the father of the American Revolution, was an undocumented immigrant. When Rep. Jim Jordan countered that Paine was not an illegal immigrant, Raskin reiterated that he said “undocumented” immigrant, which is what Democrats today call illegal aliens.

Raskin: “Thomas Paine was an undocumented immigrant.”

Jordan: “How was he an illegal immigrant? He was born in the UK and came to America, then a British colony.”

Raskin: “I didn’t say he was an illegal immigrant. He was an undocumented immigrant.” pic.twitter.com/3H6fDV02rf

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 18, 2026

How is he an immigrant if he went from the British Empire to the British Empire?

— Justine (@BruinJustine) March 18, 2026

He went from one part of Britain to another part of Britain. Just like 90 % of the colonial immigrants!

— Old Grouch (@old_grouch1) March 18, 2026

Recommended

A British subject moving from the UK to a colony is not an immigrant of any kind.

US citizens and resident aliens can move between states at will. This does not imply that anyone in the world can move to the USA.

— Dogmatic Tower (@DogmaticTower) March 18, 2026

He was a British citizen who came to the then-British colony in America.

— kStarr (@starr11063) March 18, 2026

Paine wasn’t an immigrant at all, at least in the modern understanding of it. He moved from one British jurisdiction to another. It’s like saying someone from California who moves to Hawaii or (even) Puerto Rico is an immigrant.

— TheHistoryOfTheAmericans (@TheHistoryOfTh2) March 18, 2026

Identity and bona fides were documented on ship’s manifest. 💁‍♀️

— Jacqui Anderson (@Jacquiann316) March 18, 2026

I bet he had to sign the ships log as a passenger.

— Awggy Dawggy (@shadeymd) March 18, 2026

He was so documented that we’re still talking about him today

— Braeden (@BraedenSorbo) March 18, 2026

Thomas Jefferson’s family, on almost all sides, were founding families of early Virginia. His earliest ancestors here sailed in 1619.

I get that the Democrats LOVE to erase early Virginia but it’s just ridiculous at this point.

— Anna D. West 🇺🇸 (@SlimWiggy) March 18, 2026

Based on common practice at the time, he may also have carried:
•Personal letters
•Possibly proof of past employment (he had worked as an excise officer)
•Basic identification papers (though nothing like modern IDs)

— TomNJ (@TomNJ2) March 18, 2026

When Paine left England he’d had business failures and was starting over. What made his move possible was help from Benjamin Franklin, whom he met in London. Franklin gave him a letter of introduction, which was the single most important document Paine carried.

— TomNJ (@TomNJ2) March 18, 2026

Geezus the stupidity is immeasurable

— Spitfire (@RealSpitfire) March 18, 2026

Democrats will say or do anything to legitimize illegal immigration. Raskin really thought he had something there with “undocumented immigrant.”

***

Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.

Join Twitchy VIP today and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.