Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on Thursday dismissed mass illegal immigration as a “fake problem” and argued that Americans would be safer living in communities with high levels of immigration.

In an interview with The CT Mirror, Murphy rejected the Trump administration’s framing of the issue. “The problem, according to the Trump administration, is a country that has been invaded, a country that is at risk physically because of the presence of people from other countries. That is a fake problem. That is not a real problem,” he said.

Murphy further claimed that both first-generation and undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans. “So, if you want to live in a safe community, you are actually better off living in a community with people that just got to the United States of America,” he said.

The senator moved to Hartford in 2020 after criticism for not owning a residence in Connecticut for more than a year. He and his wife purchased a home in the majority-minority city after previously living in predominantly white Cheshire. During the period without a Connecticut home, the family reportedly spent time in Washington, D.C., and at his parents’ summer home in the less diverse coastal town of Old Lyme.