“This is not racist. It is not far right. It is simply right,” he said.
There was near-unanimous opposition from other parties to the Tory motion, which called for illegal immigration to be stopped “because of the damaging impact on public finances and local communities”.
It also criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to suspend rules requiring those applying for homelessness to have a “local connection”.
The debate comes as Glasgow faces an escalating refugee homelessness crisis.
Council figures show refugee households now account for 44% of all homelessness applications in the city.
The authority spent £27 million on refugee-related homelessness in 2024/25, with forecasts warning costs could climb to £66 million within two years unless UK policy changes.
The situation is being driven by the interaction of UK asylum rules with Scotland’s wider homelessness rights.
Under UK rules, asylum seekers are supported with housing while their claims are processed. Once granted leave to remain, that support ends and they must leave Home Office accommodation within a set period — currently 56 days.
South of the Border, councils only have to house those in “priority need”, such as families with children or pregnant women.
However, in 2021, the SNP Government — in a move that received unanimous Holyrood backing — scrapped that requirement, meaning all unintentionally homeless people are entitled to settled accommodation.
As a result, Glasgow has seen a surge in refugees travelling from other parts of the UK.
Mr Findlay said talking about immigration was “not racist”.
“It is also not racist to recognise that our country has failed in its fundamental duty to control its borders.
“Too many have come here illegally or have overstayed their welcomes, and too many are here not to give but to take. And too many do not share or even actively oppose our country’s values.
“It is also not racist to say that we should remove foreign killers, paedophiles and rapists from our country.
“And it should not need saying, but it is not racist to say that countless women have been trafficked and enslaved into prostitution by evil criminal gangs. It is not racist to want to stop the boats. It is a treacherous trade that claims lives and enriches gangsters.”
Mr Findlay said he saw the impact of “mass migration” on Glasgow.
“This is a city that declared a housing emergency two years ago — a city with a mountain of debt standing at £1.6 billion and rising,” he said. “Little wonder the council leader, Susan Aitken, has suggested a pause on asylum seeker dispersals to Glasgow, while her SNP colleague concedes the existing system risks damaging social cohesion.
“So I end by saying it loud and saying it clear. The public first cannot afford this. It is unsustainable. This is not racist. It is not far right. It is simply right.”
During the debate, Mr Findlay He was challenged over comments made earlier this year by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
In a speech reported by the Guardian, Mr Jenrick described Birmingham’s Handsworth area as “one of the worst-integrated places” he had ever been to, saying he spent 90 minutes there and “not seen another white face”.
Mr Findlay replied: “What Mr Jenrick meant was that we want communities that are assimilated. We do not want people to be isolated. We do not want people to be ghettoised, and I think that is an entirely reasonable position to take.”
Opening the debate for the Government, Cabinet Secretary Màiri McAllan criticised Mr Findlay’s language.
“I cannot say that I am pleased to open the debate for the Government today,” she said. “Only four weeks ago, the Conservatives brought a similar motion, and that day a number of contributions crossed the line. It is taking the biscuit today, frankly.
“Let me start by appealing for care in the language that we use this afternoon. Whatever certain politicians do to characterise the situation, we are talking about people — people with hopes, aspirations and suffering — human beings who should be treated with dignity and respect.”
She accused the Conservatives of “wilfully misusing the terms illegal immigration and asylum seekers, conflating two fundamentally different issues”, adding: “The term illegal migrant is not only divisive and dehumanising, it is also inaccurate. People are not illegal. Seeking asylum is a right.”
On housing policy, Ms McAllan said: “The changes made in November 2022 only prevent a Scottish local authority from referring a homeless household to another Scottish local authority in which they have a local connection.
“That was praised as giving homeless households the choice that anybody else would expect. The change did not alter local connection rules for refugee households, and, as things stand, there is nothing preventing a Scottish local authority from referring a refugee homeless household back to parts of England and Wales in which they have a local connection.”
She added: “To this right-wing nonsense finding itself in our national Parliament for the second time in a month, to mistruths on social media read by thousands before we have the chance to correct them, to politicians, journalists and institutions repeating and thereby normalising unfounded suspicion, fear and hatred that should never be normalised.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman accused the Tories of “tired, toxic rhetoric”, insisting people seeking safety were “not the cause of our housing crisis” but “victims of it”. Suspending local-connection rules had been “humane”, she said, adding: “Scotland’s strength lies in its compassion.”
Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie said there was “no evidence” that the 2022 local-connection change was a “magnet”. He called for a “national emergency” response with independent processing centres to clear the backlog, warning that “dehumanising language” solved nothing.
He added: “It is interesting to watch the body language from the Conservative benches this afternoon. I know that many members are very uncomfortable with the approach taken by their leader, and they are right to be uncomfortable with that approach.”
Tory MSP Pam Gosal told MSPs that there was a “world of difference between legal and illegal immigration.”
“No matter what the SNP may think, illegal immigration is wrong,” she added. “Our country is not a hotel. That is not a fringe belief it is me speaking on behalf of my community.”
Labour’s Daniel Johnson said the problem was “conflating issues and perpetuating myths”, arguing small-boat crossings made up a “vanishingly small proportion” of overall migration. Linking the housing emergency to illegal migration was “not helpful”, he added.
Reform MSP Graham Simpson, said he would support the motion, but added that his former party had “quite some nerve bringing this issue to the chamber for a second time when you look at their record in office.”
He added: “Scotland has become a magnet for migrants and that can be attributed to policy decisions taken here. It is putting a strain on public services and community cohesion.”
Closing for the Government, Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart stressed that “people seeking asylum cannot access local authority housing” and only recognised refugees gained rights to housing and work. Citing official figures, she said small-boat arrivals were a small share of long-term immigration and urged MSPs to reject what she called a “disgraceful” motion.
She also hit out at Mr Findlay’s use of the word assimilation. “That has connotations of having to either mask yourself or to mimic in order to fit in, rather than enabling cohesive multicultural communities.
“The days of ethnic minorities with strange names having to change their names in order to anglicise themselves and disguise themselves. The days of young Asian girls and black girls having to bleach their skin in order to fit in with white communities, those should be condemned and put into the history books.”