SCRANTON — In her campaign to defeat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, said former President Joe Biden — a Democrat, Scranton native and former key political ally — had failed to secure the nation’s southern border.
Cognetti’s comments came during a Q&A forum of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce held Friday at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton. The event featured both candidates separately fielding the same set of questions, with Cognetti going first, and with each candidate session lasting about 45 minutes.
The 8th District includes all of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike counties and parts of Monroe and Luzerne counties. Bresnahan, who won his House seat in 2024, seeks reelection to another two-year term in the Nov. 3 general election.
Chamber President Bob Durkin posed the following preface and question: “The Trump administration has undertaken historic actions surrounding immigration, including the deportation of undocumented workers without criminal histories. Many of our regional businesses rely on the immigrant and refugee community to make up their workforce. Considering the shortage of available workers and the demographic reality that point to a continuation of that trend, how does immigration fit into the future of our regional workforce?”
Cognetti and Bresnahan both spoke of a need for deportations of violent criminals occurring alongside immigration reforms.
“The Biden administration failed at the border. The first two years (of Biden’s presidency) especially were pretty unbelievable in what they failed to do to secure the border,” Cognetti said. She said she had participated in meetings with mayors of other cities who asked the Biden administration for help because their cities could not take the onslaught of migrants coming across the border into their cities.
“It was not the right policy. We need a secure border and I’m very pleased that we have shored that up,” Cognetti said, without mentioning President Donald Trump or Republicans. “We also need comprehensive immigration reform and paths to citizenship. We can have these two things at the same time. We can make sure that the people who are working hard, paying into the system, doing their jobs, (are) part of our community and sending their kids to our schools, have a pathway to becoming citizens. What we can’t have is violent criminals — at all — full stop.”
She then spoke of her administration’s investments in the Scranton Police Department.
In response to the same preface and question on immigration, Bresnahan said, “Northeastern Pennsylvania is a melting pot of immigration. My grandparents, my great-grandparents all immigrated through Ellis Island. I’ve always had a philosophy of a big fence but a wide gate (for lawful ways to enter the country). Just yesterday I received a call about some stonemasons in the middle of a project that unfortunately were detained by U.S. CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). It’s something that we get calls on every single day in all of our offices. It’s certainly something that you need to be able to approach it from a pragmatic perspective. You can’t eliminate the entire workforce in the process. But I do believe that violent criminals, criminal aliens, rapists, drug dealers, people with other charges and other violent offenses, should absolutely be deported” or prosecuted.
He also said the CIS system has a “significant lag” and voiced support for legislation that would allow for certain visas in the agricultural and hospitality industries that “Northeastern Pennsylvania depends on for our workforce.”
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Campaign signs for U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., and his Democratic challenger in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election, Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti, along South Washington Avenue and East Elm Street in South Scranton on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Oct. 23, 2023 hosted the two candidates in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th Congressional District. Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan of Dallas Township, at the podium, speaks while chamber President Bob Durkin, who served as moderator, looks on. Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti, a Democrat, is challenging Bresnahan for a two-year term. The forum was held at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Oct. 23, 2023 hosted the two candidates in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th Congressional District. Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti, a Democrat, at the podium, speaks while chamber President Bob Durkin, who served as moderator, looks on. She is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan of Dallas Township for a two-year term. The forum was held at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Campaign signs for U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., and his Democratic challenger in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election, Scranton Mayor Paige G. Cognetti, along South Washington Avenue and East Elm Street in South Scranton on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)