“The View” hosts sparred with former Trump-era press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Wednesday over the border crisis.
The hosts began discussing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcing the termination of the Trump-era immigration policy Title 42, which led to the expulsion of over 1.7 million migrants as a COVID-19 protocol. Co-host Sunny Hostin then suggested that immigration laws discriminate on the basis of race.
“I don’t agree with that and I think that is low-hanging fruit,” guest co-host Grisham said. “There are bad people—”
“It’s not low-hanging fruit, it’s the truth,” Hostin interjected.
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Grisham first argued that migrants need to enter the country legally and that open borders will allow for an increase of fentanyl crossing the border.
“Why does this sound like Fox News?” co-host Joy Behar said. (RELATED: ‘I’m So Disappointed’: Sunny Hostin Is Not Impressed By The Biden Administration’s Handling Of Immigration)
“Because I’m a Republican and I’m sorry about that, I’m just trying to talk to you,” Grisham said.
“Are you spewing talking points here?” Behar asked, to which Grisham denied. “Where are you numbers? I don’t see stats.” Grisham replied that she witnessed the influx of migrants while living in Arizona.
“How many could you see, you’re one person,” Behar argued.
Co-host Sara Haines argued the country is not in a position to take in a large influx of migrants during a time of record-high inflation rates and attempting to avoid war with Russia. She said the “lifeboat” will not save anyone if it flips over, and therefore the country cannot handle the crisis.
Hostin argued the country needs to figure out a solution to have migrants seek asylum legally, rather than welcoming some groups and excluding others.
“They’ve had two years to figure it out, they haven’t figured it out, but the answer is not ‘these people are coming across illegally, some are welcome, some are not.’ That is not the promise of this country.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Cuban immigrants were welcomed with open arms, while the high influx of Haitian migrants over the summer was immediately deported from the U.S.
“Sometimes it sounds like we’re being very race-based,” Goldberg said. “But this is where we come from. We see things other people don’t see and we see them differently. If I see 17 people who are white being welcomed in—and it doesn’t matter that you’re white, you should be welcomed into the country. But I want you to welcome in brown people as well, the same way.”
Behar pushed back against Grisham’s claims about fentanyl, saying that she does not make those arguments about Ukrainians and Western Europeans.
“We are in the middle of a war,” Grisham pushed back.
“But why is it that those people are criminals and the others are not?” Behar concluded.
More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. annually, with a majority currently coming from China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines, according to Pew Research.