Everyone watching witnessed a real-time paradigm shift on immigration unfold on CNN — and it didn’t come from Republicans.
It came from a sitting Democrat senator.
During an exchange last night with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Senator John Fetterman openly admitted on national television that his long-held stance on sanctuary cities is no longer defensible.
Worse for CNN’s narrative, he didn’t dodge or pivot. He owned it.
Collins confronted Fetterman with his own words from 2016, when he argued that sanctuary city policies made communities safer.
COLLINS: “2016, when you were the lieutenant governor you said that you believe sanctuary cities make everybody safer.”
She then pressed him directly, tying the question to the ongoing fallout in Minneapolis.
COLLINS: “Given that has been the administration’s argument against what’s happening in Minneapolis, is do you still agree with that tonight? Is that still your position that sanctuary cities make people safer?”
Instead of deflecting, Fetterman did something rarely seen from a Democrat on cable news: he disowned his old position.
FETTERMAN: “I think at that time, the dynamic has changed much differently, and the border has become more and more increasingly more difficult.”
“So for me now, I think it’s entirely appropriate, to make the adjustments.”
That alone would have been a notable moment. But Fetterman didn’t stop there.
He went further — far enough that Collins appeared visibly caught off guard.
FETTERMAN: “And, I do think at this point we should be turning over all the criminals that are in custody in all these jurisdictions.”
Sensing the gravity of what he’d just said, Collins quickly tried to narrow the scope, bringing the discussion back to Minneapolis and Democratic leadership there.
COLLINS: “Does that mean for Minneapolis? Obviously, you’re the senator from Pennsylvania, but in Minnesota, Jacob Frey the mayor says he he doesn’t believe that they should cooperate with those federal enforcement laws.”
She pressed again, tying cooperation directly to the Trump administration.
COLLINS: “So you do believe that they should be cooperating more with the Trump administration?”
Fetterman didn’t walk it back.
FETTERMAN: “What I do, what I do believe is that if there are local law enforcement that have these people in custody, you know, that are behaving in criminal behavior, then yes, they should they should cooperate with that.”
He made his position unmistakably clear.
FETTERMAN: “And those individuals, if they’re convicted, should be deported.”
At that point, the moment had landed. Collins appeared stunned.
Still, she tried one last time — perhaps hoping he’d soften or retreat from the implications.
COLLINS: “And so your stance on on sanctuary cities has changed then. Is that right, senator?”
Fetterman didn’t hesitate.
FETTERMAN: “I think it’s yes, I think it’s evolved because the dynamics and the circumstances, with respects to our border has.”
That was it.
A Democrat senator, on CNN, acknowledging what many voters already believe — that the sanctuary city experiment had failed
under the weight of real-world consequences.
For a network that has spent years defending these policies as untouchable moral necessities, the moment was jarring. The frame cracked live on air — and Collins had no way to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
