Television personality “Dr. Phil” McGraw said during a Fox News segment with host Jesse Watters on Monday that too many Americans are afraid to talk about the chaotic southwestern border under President Joe Biden because they fear being labeled a “hater” of migrants.
“The border thing seems so obvious to vast majorities of the American public,” Watters said. “Why is it such a deadly problem still?’
“Well, I think people are afraid to take a position on this because if they take a position and say we should control the border, then they’re labeled as anti-immigration, they’re labeled as haters for these different countries that people are coming from,” McGraw responded. “But that’s missing the point, isn’t it? Because we’re not talking about immigration. We’re talking about illegal immigration. I’m very pro-immigration.”
“We need immigrants in this country,” he continued. “We got a 1.6 birth rate. We need 2.1 to sustain our infrastructure here. I welcome immigrants into this country, but we need to know who they are. We need to know who it is that’s coming into our country.
“We need to be able to sort through these people. And those that are enemies of the United States that are coming into the country, those that are on the terror watch list coming into the country, those people certainly need to be filtered and stopped. And when you come into the United States illegally, that’s a felony,” McGraw continued.
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Meanwhile, the Border Patrol’s union has sharply criticized Biden’s planned visit to the border on Tuesday, characterizing it as a cynical move to salvage his presidency while jeopardizing American safety.
In a statement received by Fox News Digital, the union declared Biden’s visit, three years into his term, “after repeatedly stating there is no crisis is too little, too late.”
The union argued that visiting the border now would be pointless if the president’s claims of having done everything to secure it were true.
“Even if he were to put the proper policies in place at this late hour, he’d be doing it only to try to save his Presidency,” said a statement to Fox News. The union raised concerns that Biden’s actions, seen as self-serving as his term winds down, might indicate a potential return to open border policies if he were re-elected.
“Biden is going to the border now solely to try to save himself. Border security should never be about politics. It should always be about the safety and security of this great nation and the American people,” the union emphasized.
Biden is scheduled to visit Brownsville, Texas. Former President Donald Trump will be visiting Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday as well.