Border doctor on the financial burden of illegal immigrants
Dr. Danny Villareal weighs in on the rise of birthright citizenship.
This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," January 10, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham, and this is “The Ingraham Angle,” from Washington tonight. We have a truly important show for you. While the left and their media enablers have been discounting this crisis on the border, it doesn't exist at all. We're going to bring you to the border, real stories from real people who live there throughout the hour.
But first, the casual cruelty of the left. That's the focus of tonight's “Angle.”
Oh, the Democrats, never-Trump fanatics are going totally off the rails, my friends. Earlier this week, we exposed their true motives during this partial government shutdown. They want to keep it going as long as possible for pure political gain. It's as simple as that. The American people and the government workers be damned. It's all about trying to embarrass the President. So much for governing. It's pathetic.
Now, tonight, we take it a step further. Night-after-night, we're going to systematically expose the tactics and methods of the Democrats and their media collaborators use to advance their extreme agenda. Now, I call this edition "the cruel hoax."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump has hurled coarse insults at everybody from senators to Stormy Daniels.
He has separated immigrant children from their parents at the border. The pattern here, cruelty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what Trump practices is cruelty. He is - part of his brand is cruelty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Trump administration adopted a conscious policy of cruelty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what President Trump wants. He's using cruelty as his message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: I'm sorry. It's so preposterous and so obvious. They write entire articles, devote entire segments to making their cruelty case. No need to debate actual issues or propose actual solutions when it's so much easier just to call someone a name like racist, sexist, misogynist, or in this case, cruel.
Check out these ludicrous headlines. No matter what, remember, if Trump is involved, it must be a cruel outcome, like any issue regarding transgenderism or budget priorities. And one of my personal favorites, the knee-slapper argument made by former Bushy Michael Gerchen that it's not just that Trump is cruel, it's also that he encourages other leaders around the world to be cruel too. And of course, anything related to immigration, short of a wave-them-all-in policy, is always going to be cruel. Well, you get the point.
Liberals and Never Trumpers want you to believe that they have the monopoly on compassion. And if you don't believe in their social and economic and foreign policy agenda, you're not just wrong, you're cruel. And Trump is the cruelest of all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It might come down to the fact that he could well be just an empty man, an empty--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --human being with no soul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Still trying to get over Michael Steele's red sweater situation. That's cruel.
Now, my friends, the Buddha said, this is paraphrasing, that the finger is always pointed back at you. So watch what you're doing with the cruel language. Just look at the current border standoff issue. And it's apparent that the Democrats and the Never Trumpers are actually the cruelest of them all. While they spent months on the border bemoaning the plight of migrant families and detention centers, they treat American victims of illegal alien crime with complete indifference and even scorn.
After the President said this in his Oval Office address--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Over the last several years, I've met with dozens of families whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration. I will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices, and the sadness gripping their souls. How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Unfunny, NBC's late-night host Seth Meyers responded this way on Twitter. "Is this Oval Office: SVU?"
Gosh, it's hilarious, mocking the plight of victims as if they're just collateral damage in the battle for open borders. And for Democrats like Pelosi and others, it's always something like, sure, any life lost is tragic, but--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Being concerned about every death that happens because of - because you live in an imperfect world, and that's very sad. But--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, terrible stories, and we don't want to minimize the pain of any victims, any family, that anyone is feeling, right? But--
It's awful--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --these tragedies shouldn't happen, but--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): President Trump backing up his dire warnings with grisly stories of crimes blamed on undocumented immigrants. But--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: OK. That could be my favorite new graphic. But there is no "but." These are Americans who would be alive today if politicians did their jobs and did everything that was necessary to protect America's borders.
Now, we've constantly lectured about being sensitive to victims and hearing them out. And that's fair. And we all say a lot, refreshment (ph) on TV, and sometimes you overstep. I get it. No one is perfect. But we have to find some sensitivity here for the victims of illegal immigrant crime. Are they to be ignored just because they don't fit a particular ideology? And conservatives shouldn't do this on one another. It sure happens. And the liberals shouldn't do it here. And when someone does try to mention the suffering of illegal alien crime victims, sadly, they're treated this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if I were to grant you that. OK? The point is, the illegal alien crime rate should be zero. It should be - you can do your nails. You know who can't do their nails are people who've been killed, Ana, by dangerous known illegal aliens who've been allowed to stay in this country because of the leftist policies that people like you promote in so- called sanctuary city--
ANA NAVARRO, COMMENTATOR, CNN: I'm so tired of you calling me leftist already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --to allow them to hide in plain sight--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: OK. Raise your hand if you think Ana Navarro does her own nails. But look, Republican imposters like Navarro are cruelly indifferent. That was a cute little stunt in the double boxes. But their callousness extends not only to Americans who pay about $150 billion a year tab that illegal immigration cost to us, but also the indifference to those Americans and legal immigrants who've been raped, abused, trafficked, run over, and murdered sadly by certain vicious illegal aliens.
When California officer Ronil Singh was laid to rest last week after being killed by an illegal during a routine traffic stop, California Governor Gavin Newsom attended an NBA game. Senator Kamala Harris did offer her respects, however, to the rapper common. Somehow she found the time to hang out there. No attending the funeral of an outstanding constituent.
And these are the people who have the nerve to call Donald Trump cruel? If it's not a death that they can exploit for political gain, they're just not interested in it at all. Meanwhile, Trump is truly concerned about the children on both sides of the border. And the only way to protect them is to deincentivize the dangerous trip northward and build a wall to reinforce an orderly immigration process.
To let the current situation persist would be truly cruel. And that's THE ANGLE.
Joining me now is DJ and Wendy Corcoran. Their son, Pierce, was killed just days ago, after an illegal immigrant allegedly swerved into oncoming traffic, killing him instantly.
DJ and Wendy, thank you for being here amidst real grief, real suffering, real pain. What is your reaction when you see opponents of the President react so glibly--
DJ CORCORAN, SON ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL: Real.
INGRAHAM: --to the loss of life of your son and other Americans who suffered and continue to suffer?
DJ CORCORAN: Yes. It's real. And it really ticks me off when I see Pelosi acting like a three-year-old and saying that it's fabricated.
So, Ms. Pelosi, this is our son. This was Pierce Corcoran. He is dead. His death is real. His death is real. It's not fabricated. And he died at the hands of an illegal immigrant. And we're upset about that. We feel that the government owes the American people better than what we're getting right now. And it really just upsets us when we hear you saying that, basically, that it doesn't matter. Well, it matters to us.
INGRAHAM: Wendy, as a mother, I wish I could give you a big hug. I know it wouldn't do anything, but I mean, it is - your son was a wonderful young man. He did not deserve this. He was beloved, as is your whole family in the community. And yet politicians so blithely disregard your suffering, the loss of his life, as almost - and I know this sounds - it sounds glib of me to say, but it's almost collateral damage in the quest for open borders, or a quest to try to humiliate Trump or win in 2020.
And for them not to go to funerals of people in their own jurisdictions, like in California, with Officer Singh? They're hanging out with like rappers and going to NBA games? What? Your reaction to all of this, Wendy, in your pain.
WENDY CORCORAN, SON ALLEGEDLY KILLED BY ILLEGAL: They're just out of touch. They don't - I can't even understand how they just don't get that it's really about responsibility, on their part, but expecting others that want to come here, and for a better life, to be responsible humans first, but responsible citizens. I can't--
INGRAHAM: Tell me about Pierce, DJ.
DJ CORCORAN: Pierce was incredible. He really was. I mean, there's so many people that we know that have come out and spoke about him at the funeral. I mean, he was fun-loving. He loved sports, he loved golf, he loved soccer, he loved tennis. There wasn't a sporting event that he didn't want to be there. He loved sports. He loved people. He just had a new girlfriend that he had been with for I guess about six months, and really just starting to come out of his shyness, starting to become a young man. And at Christmas, had brothers and sisters - there's seven of us, and they were commenting on how he was starting to just come out of his shell and be an adult. And - but he's been robbed. We've been robbed.
W. CORCORAN: We've been robbed. Yes.
INGRAHAM: Wendy, when comedians, late-night TV hosts send out tweets when the President is actually speaking for the American family victims -- he has compassion for the people who want to come here. He really does. He doesn't want them to cross deserts and put their children at risk either. He doesn't - that's why we need sensible border enforcement and sensible orderly immigration. He knows that--
W. CORCORAN: Yes.
INGRAHAM: --because the traffickers and the drug - so he has compassion for them. But when he talks about American victims, Seth Meyers sends out a tweet, "Oval Office: SVU," Special Victims Unit, making a joke about the deaths of American citizens. Now, is that funny to you?
(CROSSTALK)
DJ CORCORAN: --to somebody like that--
INGRAHAM: Is that funny to you, Wendy?
DJ CORCORAN: No, it is not.
W. CORCORAN: I mean, it - it hurts. It's another punch in the gut to us, at this time, when we are mourning our son that they just don't get that someone has died at the hand of someone else that shouldn't have been here. And our government has failed us as far as - it also protects those that want to come here, that want to come here and do it the right way, it protects them as well because they are exploited when they get here by--
DJ CORCORAN: Greed.
W. CORCORAN: Yes. By greed.
INGRAHAM: Well, the Democrats are saying that this wall and the President's desire for a wall is itself cruel and inhuman and, as Nancy Pelosi said, immoral.
DJ, your view on the President's standing for this border security and calling it a crisis. I assume your family is in crisis.
W. CORCORAN: Yes.
DJ CORCORAN: We have been, yes. And it is a symbol. The wall is a symbol to the American people that the government is listening to them, listening to our concerns. It's also a symbol to the people that are coming into this country illegally that, hey, America means business, they've got a wall here, there is a checkpoint somewhere that we have to go through. Pelosi and some of these people, I'm sure they have walls around their home. And as the President said, it's not because they hate who's on the outside, it's because they love who's on the inside.
I challenge Ms. Pelosi. If that's not a threat to - give your security guards the night off, open your doors, unlock your doors, and sleep, and open your gate to your home and see - and just see. If it's not a threat, then why do you have locks on your door? Why do you have a gate around your home?
W. CORCORAN: Why is it wrong to protect the American people?
INGRAHAM: Wendy--
DJ CORCORAN: Yes.
W. CORCORAN: Why--
INGRAHAM: --I know there are a lot of people supporting you, family. I know your faith is very strong. And I'm going to ask all of our viewers, if you're a believer, please pray for your family--
W. CORCORAN: Please.
INGRAHAM: --and for the repose of the soul of your son.
W. CORCORAN: Thank you so much. And that's - the prayers have sustained us these days. I mean, we couldn't speak like we have if we weren't guided by so many around us that have asked us to speak out and agree with the views that we're expressing. So, yes, the prayers are so important to us. We really are so thankful for so many around us that lift us up and are carrying us through.
INGRAHAM: Wendy and DJ, we are - we're with you in prayers. And anything I can personally do for your family, you know how to get in touch with me morning, noon and night. I'm there for you. So know that our viewers are there for you as well. I'm so sorry for the loss of your son.
W. CORCORAN: Thank you so much.
INGRAHAM: So - trying to compose myself.
How long can the resistance to President Trump ignore these headlines and these people? These are real human beings. We just learned that 21 people were killed, most of them burned, in a grisly gang battle in Ciudad Miguel Aleman. It's just an hour away, 56 miles from where the President visited today.
Joining us now is Chris Cabrera in McAllen, Texas. He's a spokesperson for the National Border Patrol Council. And with me in Washington is Mark Morgan. He's the former Border Patrol Chief under President Obama.
Now, Mark, let me start with you. First of all, I really appreciate you coming on tonight. You see me getting emotional here, and I was gathering myself. You might have to host the rest of the show. Do you mind if I keep being like that? But you've had a unique perspective because you served under a Democratic President who - and I think the winning argument here is Trump or the Democratic leadership stalling this process of fixing the border. And your perspective, given what you've seen.
MARK MORGAN, FORMER BORDER PATROL CHIEF UNDER OBAMA: Well, first of all, Laura, I'm emotional too. And hearing that, I'm outraged that we haven't fixed this problem. I am outraged. And one thing that I was listening to that family that struck at me is that, who, after listening to that, can say that this is a manufactured crisis? Anyone - anyone, left, right, I don't care who it is, anyone that says this is a manufactured crisis, they are absolutely lying to the American people.
As Chief of the United States Border Patrol, I was briefed every single day that men and women of the United States Border Patrol were risking their lives on their frontline and they are apprehending and interdicting pedophiles, rapists, murderers, gang members every single day. Tell me that that's a manufactured crisis.
INGRAHAM: Well, they'll always say, well, the - they conflate legal and illegal immigrants and they say, well, they commit less crime than ordinary Americans, immigrants.
MORGAN: Well, first of all, I'd like to see that - the statistical solution (ph) they gave that.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, it's - yes. We've already unpacked it and exposed it, but go ahead.
MORGAN: Right. And then - so the argument is - is because they commit less crime than Americans. Then what does that mean? That we don't do anything about it?
INGRAHAM: Yes.
MORGAN: That's absurd.
INGRAHAM: Jim Acosta from CNN, both of you, I know you're familiar with his, quote, "work," but he was down at the border today. And this is his glib tweet. "I found some steel slats down on the border. But I don't see anything resembling a national emergency situation, at least not in the McAllen, Texas area of the border where Trump will be today."
Well, Chris, I'll let you take a swing at that one. It's so easy, but I'll let you take a swing at it anyway.
CHRIS CABRERA, SPOKESMAN, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: Well, you know, I think Mr. Acosta here, I think what he fails to realize there is he's out there with cameras during the day. Everything is pretty nice and calm during the day. Come there after dark, and if you see is it as so safe out there, why doesn't he just pitch a tent down there by the river and hang out for a couple of days and get back to us on how safe he feels.
INGRAHAM: There's no hair and makeup there. He wouldn't hang out there, sorry.
But if he's also there - there is actual - there actually is a Border Patrol force there because the President of the United States is there. But guys, I want to play this. This is from back in 2005. This was Barack Obama, your former boss, who - I mean, I'm watching this old video of him, and we could play the whole thing, we'll play some part of it. It sounds like it could be from Donald Trump. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: It went on. And he told the kids, in 2014, the families, you can't stay here, don't bring your children here because you're going to have to go home.
What happened to President Obama? What happened to the Democrats on this issue, Mark?
MORGAN: Well--
INGRAHAM: You used to be the head of ICE - or Border Patrol.
MORGAN: Well, that's the whole irony to this. And if I can - Acosta - what's another thing. I hope the American people is not lost on the irony that he's standing behind a wall saying it's peaceful because there's a wall. Think about that. Right? The irony there.
And so I think that's exactly why I'm speaking out, is that - in 2006 - and you've talked about it. We all know the Fence Act or the Wall Act, whatever you want to call it. What happened? Is it the size and the height of the barrier now that makes it immoral? And that's what's really just disgusting for me -- is that in 2005 and 2006, they made arguments on both sides of the aisle of why the wall was needed and why enhanced border security was needed. Those still same arguments and same facts are being made exactly the same by this current President.
INGRAHAM: It's political. It's 2020. They think they can flip states with a massive immigration surge, illegal, legal into the United States. They've done it with California in part, and they think they're going to do it with other states.
Chris, before we let you go, we saw the video of the President standing there. He had a lot of border patrol folks with him, other officials, other local members of the community. How did the border patrol react today to him?
CABRERA: The border patrol was happy to see President Trump come down. In McAllen, it's the busiest it's been since I've been an agent in last 17 years. We have a real problem there. CNN, were to put on their news feed, not two weeks ago, border crisis. And all of a sudden, there is not a border crisis. We catch the equivalent of one of those caravans they talk about per week in McAllen. We see 5,000, 7,000, sometimes 10,000 a week--
INGRAHAM: Wow!
CABRERA: --just in our area. Those are people turning themselves in and people trying to get away. Our agents get assaulted almost daily. It is very busy. There's a lot of people, there's a lot of drugs. And unfortunately, we see a lot of victims of sexual assault or just the elements themselves come up to ask for help. So it is very busy.
INGRAHAM: Yes, back to the point.
CABRERA: Anybody who says there's not a crisis--
INGRAHAM: Right. Chris--
CABRERA: Yes. They're--
INGRAHAM: --back to the point--
CABRERA: --they're living under a rock somewhere.
INGRAHAM: And back to the point, Mark. It is cruel to keep this charade going. And to say it's not a crisis and let it for the next generation or the next decade, that's cruel because a lot of people are going to die because the Democrats refuse to do the right thing.
What a phenomenal panel! Thank you for putting up with my emotions, and yours. This is ridiculously tough.
Coming up, how do Latinos supporting Trump's policies feel when they hear Trump opponents claim it's just--
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about a wall here that is a symbol that says, "Brown people, we don't want you."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is about a wall. This is about a wall to keep brown people out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're telling they're criminals when they're not - simply because they're black and brown people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: They really think that that is what Trump is all about. Well, here is a look at a rally in McAllen, Texas where the President was today. Now, do you see those signs? They read, "Hispanics for the wall."
Well, joining me now from McAllen, Texas is Jorge Rojas, a resident who can speak firsthand to the impact of illegal border crossings. Well, Jorge, my friend, you see the human trafficking and the drugs coming across the border every day. But your own Mayor says there's no need for a wall. Now, how do you respond to that as a constituent?
JORGE ROJAS, RESIDENT OF MCALLEN, TEXAS: Well, it's very simple. I mean, we tend to let our politicians make the decisions of we need - what we did or what we don't need, instead of trusting the boots on the ground. The first - the first responders, the people that are keeping us safe every day, because it is very safe on this side but not on the other side. But if they're telling you, yes, we need a barrier, a wall, a fence, whatever you want to call it, but they're asking for it, then, believe me, we need it.
INGRAHAM: What about this line that you keep hearing? It's parroted. It's always an echo chamber of idiocy coming from the left and the Never Trumpers. "Well, it's to keep the brown people out." It's to keep - as if there's like a color-coded counter at the border, or that's how they're determining the myriad of people who come in. I don't know one person who cares about the color, your sexual orientation. Nobody cares. It's about whether you come legally or whether you're gaming a legal process such as asylum, which is meant for true political persecution, not economic opportunity.
Is this about brown people? I mean, they're making it a racial thing, in other words, Jorge.
ROJAS: They make it about race all the time, but it's not about race. I mean, if you want to come in into this country, you just do it legally. And that's the only and the best way to do it. And if we don't have a fence or a border that - it's just making people just want to come across because they know that we have too many soft spots and a river and the coyotes.
Me, myself and a group of ours, we do missionary work up in Guatemala and Honduras. So we've seen it firsthand. When the coyotes go out to the Aldeas (ph) and they offer - they make it sound like it's assured thing and they're going to - and they're going to charge you $10,000, $7,000. You live in the jungle. That's how much they're charging right now to bring you across. And - but they don't tell them that--
INGRAHAM: Yes.
ROJAS: --all the horrible things that's going to happen there because that's - that's the problem - that they don't know - they don't know that they're going to encounter what the coyotes are going to be doing and/or what--
INGRAHAM: They're just suffering.
ROJAS: --the--
INGRAHAM: Well, this is what I'm saying, Jorge.
ROJAS: --just the trip across.
INGRAHAM: For the Democrats to say this is not a crisis, it's a crisis to the mother who loses her child to human trafficking. This is like it was the crisis to the grieving parents. They're losing their son - Pierce Corcoran, just a few days ago. That's a crisis, all right. But the Democrats - mostly Democrats who do not want to solve this because they're milking this for every political point that they can get. And it's pathetic.
Jorge, good people in McAllen, Texas, it's a big Democrat community there. No problem with that. But I bet they want that community to be as safe as possible.
We really appreciate you joining us. And thank you for the humanitarian work you do in Guatemala. It's a country near and dear to my heard. So thank you so much.
Now, back here in Washington , the fight over the wall funding, well, it's getting nastier by the day. It seems like at a total impasse. And the attacks are more personal as we head into day 21 of the government shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: He's holding the American people hostage as leverage.
PELOSI: He has shut down government, takes pride it in.
TRUMP: I find China, frankly, in many ways to be far more honorable than crying Chuck and Nancy, I really do. I think that China is actually much easier to deal with than the opposition party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That's actually a pretty good line. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy -- I keep saying majority leader, I've got to get back -- joins me now with reaction.
OK, we painted the picture of what they do. It's emotional manipulation on the Trump is cruel. But then when there's real cruelty, death and destruction, suffering to the American people, Democrats are like, well, yes, there's some crime, but, but, but. And they make excuses. Where are we tonight?
KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: First of all, I hope every Democrat that serves right over there watched your show tonight. I hope they watched Pierce's parents, because when we're sitting in these meetings in the Situation Room, and the secretary of Homeland tries to provide the facts, Speaker Pelosi will just interrupt because she doesn't want to hear it. When I would bring up Officer Singh, because Speaker Pelosi and I come from the same state, the individual who killed officer Singh was arrested in my county. Why? Because he was on his way to Mexico. How can you say it's not a crisis? How can you say -- and the Democrats, everyone in that room, you know what they say? They're for border security. What is your definition? Who believes if you're for border security there's not some form of barrier that protects you?
INGRAHAM: They used to be for border security. I think it's time to stop allowing them to say that. No, you're not, because you used to be, and now you say the position you used to have is cruel. I'm playing the old Obama bites.
MCCARTHY: He says it's a crisis, 2014, a humanitarian --
INGRAHAM: Yes, but 2005, that was like Donald Trump speaking. He's like they have to keep them out of the country, we have to stop the flow in. And now it's a completely changed dynamic.
The Democrats are itching, I think, at least a core number, not the leadership perhaps, but itching to try and move this toward impeachment. They want to use the shutdown as a quiver in their -- I mean, as an arrow in their impeachment quiver. Do you think that that is true? And do you think they're going to get anywhere with it?
MCCARTHY: I think they want to impeach regardless of anything. They showed it on their first day. What did they do? They introduced impeachment. What did they do when you go to watch the congresswoman from Michigan sitting in her own little rally there talking about what she wants to have happen? This is the campaign why they ran. They want to impeach, they want to eliminate ICE, and they want to get Medicare for all. That's what they said and that's what's they're trying to. But they're not going to get anywhere. You can't impeach an individual that has not done anything in the process. They won't go anywhere in the Senate.
But most important, I think the American public won't put up with it either, because you see what Speaker Pelosi did, she tried to backpedal away when they're all talking about impeachment. They want a bill to it, but I don believe --
INGRAHAM: This is Mazie Hirono -- you guys work out together, right, she's one of your pals, the senator from Hawaii.
MCCARTHY: No. No, we don't work out.
INGRAHAM: No, I was just saying, Mazie Hirono, last seen at the Kavanaugh hearings, so a good job, talking about the vanity wall. Apparently it's just going to be called Trump wall, like a big T-R-U-M-P on it. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, D-HI: This is a vanity wall, and he's caused a government shutdown so that he can get his wall, 800,000 people are being held hostage by this president who makes no distinction between right or wrong. He doesn't care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Speaking of doesn't care, dovetailing back to her point, they don't care about the victims. You met with the president. How serious is he about trying to get to yes here? And who's operating -- it sounds like it's a loaded question, but it seems like he is actually trying to compromise, he's like practically did everything but bake them cookies to try to get them to negotiate.
MCCARTHY: He didn't bake them cookies but he brought them candy. He walked in the room with candy, he gave to it Chuck, and he said everybody else share around the room. This is a man that every single day has brought them back together, worked throughout the weekend and gave them idea after idea. And he was calm as can be. He looked at Nancy when she kept saying no, he said, OK, if I do what you want, if we open government back up, in 30 days could we have anything on the wall? She said no, not at all. He said OK, there's nothing here, and got up and walked away.
INGRAHAM: They want this shutdown to continue, do you agree with that?
MCCARTHY: Remember, this shutdown never had to take place. It took 60 votes in the Senate. Schumer created the shutdown. They wanted to have the shutdown. Remember what we're fighting over, 10 percent of what we spent last year to foreign aid to other countries.
INGRAHAM: No, no, no, this is their entertainment budget for a few years. Kevin McCarthy, thank you so much.
MCCARTHY: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: And ahead, how much is illegal immigration costing you, the American taxpayer? That and a lot more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The technology, we need the resources, we need the infrastructure in order to control this border and manage it. Where we have no fencing, over 90 percent of our traffic occurs in those areas.
TRUMP: Look, look, this is common sense. They need a barrier, they need a wall. If you don't have it, it's going to be nothing but hard work and grueling problems. And by the way, and death, and death, a lot of death.
I want to thank you. You do a fantastic job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you Mr. President. I appreciate that, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Now, it isn't just the threat of violence from some illegal immigrants that the president mentioned earlier today. There's also the phenomenon of anchor babies. This is where noncitizen mothers come to the United States to deliver their children inside our borders, instantly being granted this farce of birthright citizenship. Joining me now from McAllen, Texas, is Dr. Danny Villareal. He has delivered dozens of these anchor babies, and rarely, if ever, gets paid for his services. That must be really nice. Dr. Villareal, it's good to have you on, tonight. Thanks so much. And in your estimation --
DR. DANNY VILLAREAL, TREATS ILLEGALS IN MCALLEN, TEXAS: Thank you for having me on.
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. Are these nonresidents, illegal immigrants, are they abusing this process just to get that American passport so they can then say you can't depart me, my child is an American citizen kind of deal?
VILLAREAL: Yes, that would be the situation. A lot of these people are repeat offenders, if you put it like that. Some of these individuals come across and have their baby, and have a full family of all anchor babies. In my practice, in 31 years I've been doing this, I have had patients who come across to have their baby, and they themselves were an anchor baby but have never spent a day in the United States. They cross the border with a birth certificate from when they were born. They had never seen the United States, and here they are to have their baby. And it's a second-generation anchor baby.
INGRAHAM: But then there's also the phenomenon, though, because I've talked to other hospital directors about this, where people who cross the border illegally during the third trimester of pregnancy, and they come to deliver their child, and that itself becomes a way for them to stay, and ultimately many of them get jobs working under the table, working for cash. But because they have that passport, and they'll get it, then they can stay, because you can't deport them or Nancy Pelosi will call you cruel, and you can't deport an American citizen until we fix this birthright citizenship deal.
Doctor, I've got to ask you a question, though, on the payment, on the hospitals near the border. First of all, we don't have enough OB/GYNs in the whole country because everyone is getting out of the practice because insurance company outrages and not reimbursing. But how do hospitals and people like you stay in business with so many people not paying who are not citizens?
VILLAREAL: Well, here in Texas, we have the TP-30 law where if an illegal alien or anyone undocumented from out of the United States comes and has their baby, they can apply for the TP-30 law, and they get an emergency Medicaid, and Medicaid pays for their bill.
But you're right, once they're born, they're here, and no one can kick them out. The extreme is I have had patients who wait in Mexico, they start labor, they wait until they're very far along in their labor, and then they swim across the river and have their baby on the bank. And then the border patrol comes and finds them here, a lady with a baby, newborn, still stuck on to the placenta, and thank God we have wonderful Border Patrol agents who have been able to take care of these situations.
But I have had about three of those cases. They come, they get the best care, they get the best pediatricians, the best neonatologists, and the best OB/GYNs to cover them. And if they decide they're not going to apply for the TP-30, they leave and nobody gets paid.
Another thing is that, apparently, if they apply for Medicaid, for the emergency Medicaid, that means that they will not become a citizen ever unless they pay back everything. And so that's an incentive for them to just pick up and leave.
INGRAHAM: I got it. By the way, Doctor, I have to say, I feel like you're helping us diagnose this problem. And you are in effect treating the lack of knowledge, the ignorance on the part of so many of us. Until you just explained that, I didn't quite understand it. And I've been doing this issue for like 20 years. So you just served a really important purpose.
And we're going to have you back, because we're going to do a whole panel on the hidden costs of illegal immigration that Nancy Pelosi and all these Democrats never want to talk about, because it's picking the pocketbooks of the American taxpayers, because Medicaid is supposed to be used for truly indigent people in this country, veterans and others who get V.A. help, indigent American people. This is a scandal, and you just served a really important purpose.
VILLAREAL: That's another program, the CHIPS program --
INGRAHAM: Right, food stamps. No, the child healthcare.
VILLAREAL: -- high risk. Right, but the CHIPS program became a program where undocumented people would come across and stay here and get prenatal care paid for them. And they would get their prenatal care all through the nine months, they'd go have their baby and switch over and get a TP-30 and get their delivery paid by Medicaid, whereas the CHIPS program paid for all their prenatal care. And I know some secretaries in different office who could not even afford to get prenatal care.
INGRAHAM: No, no, regular Americans can't afford to get prenatal care. It's completely unfair. Thank you, we're going to have you back. We're just skimming the surface here, but we got important information. Doctor, you're the best, thank you so much. And thank you for being an OB/GYN because we need them across the United States.
VILLAREAL: Thank you, thank you for having me.
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. Important voices. You're not going to see this anywhere else in the media, my friends, you're not going to see it anywhere else.
Border Patrol, by the way, says they're seeing a rise in the number of so- called family units trying to get into the United States. And for those who do, it becomes our responsibility to give their children an education. That's public schools. That's English as a second language costs. That's interpreters, and so forth.
But it's not just the cost of educating them that's concerning us. It's the ongoing cost of those who leave the schools lacking enough skills to be productive members of society. Deborah Pace is a retired McAllen, Texas school teacher. We thought it important to get her perspective tonight.
Deborah, tell us a bit about the strain that, again, you can't blame the kids. Their parents are the ones who brought them across this perilous journey, not their fault, but nevertheless we have to look out for the American people and taxpayers. So tell us about the strain that this flow of illegal alien children place on the border communities, many of them Hispanic people, by the way.
DEBORAH PACE, RETIRED MCALLEN TEACHER: Of course, right. The children come of no fault of their own, they come with their parents. And we do educate them. When they come into our school systems, the language is, first of all, a barrier. We need staff to deal with that, a language development class. And all of our students, if they do not have the English language, and most do not, they go in to an English development class where they are taught English. And then part of the day they go into regular classes, which is a strain on both the students and the teachers to be teaching a class in English, and the student doesn't understand.
INGRAHAM: And it's also cases, I've talked to other educators, that a lot of these kids come, and having not gotten any formal education in their home countries.
PACE: Exactly.
INGRAHAM: So they come both illiterate in their native language. Two teachers I interviewed on radio years ago in Massachusetts told me the whole saga. They come here. They're illiterate in their own language, again, no fault of their own, but their country is really poor. And then they are dumped into the public schools, and the kids are trying to do their best, and the teachers are trying to do their best. But it's just, it's an impossible situation for teachers who are already under huge strain.
By the way, what happens when they leave the schools? They leave the school because they're graduated, everybody is. Then what happens? How do they meld into society and become productive?
PACE: That is another issue. A lot of these students do come in, they work hard, they learn the language, they pass, they get a diploma. And then what? They realize that without a Social Security number they can't get a job. It's difficult to go to college, the cost. They can get -- they cannot get federal financial aid. They can get state aid. And so a lot of them sometimes go back to Mexico because their options are limited, their options are limited here.
INGRAHAM: It's a very complicated dynamic.
PACE: Yes it is. Yes it is.
INGRAHAM: But our public schools are already under huge -- I have enormous respect for teachers. They can't be everything to families in an entire community with 17 languages spoken in Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools, very difficult. Thank you so much for that perspective.
My friends, my ANGLE tackled how the real cruelty in the debate resides on the left. Michelle Malkin has been following this phenomenon for years. She is here with us, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can no longer say Trump is the bad guy. If you vote for Trump, you are the bad guy.
Standing at the border, like Nazis, going you here, you here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump supporters are older, less educated, less prosperous, and many are dying from alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease, or simply a broken heart caused by economic despair.
JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: This is what people do with their disposable income when they don't have loans from college to pay off, donating money for a wall that will never exist. People are dipping into their meth money for this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Circling back to my ANGLE tonight, that's some real cruel and wildly unfunny. It all resides on the left.
Joining me now to debate is conservative columnist Michelle Malkin and Democratic strategist Dee Dawkins-Haigler. Michelle, the call for compassion, we all are called to be compassionate. If you are a believer, we're supposed to be compassionate people and are for our fellow man. A lot of us donate to organizations that help people in their home countries, food for the poor is my favorite. But what about this cruelty charge? You hear it time and again, from the left, and they read from the same hymnal. Does it stick, or do they deserve some of the blame here?
MICHELLE MALKIN, COLUMNIST: I think the optics are awful. And the lack of self-awareness from the open border snarkers is going to come back to bite them in their backsides in the end. And it may take a while. And of course I chafe to see the cruelty of the likes of Seth Meyers, or whoever was tweeting from his account, snarking when President Trump was calling attention to the victims of illegal alien crime.
But this is nothing new. Just last year, exactly almost a year ago, during the State of the Union, you remember, I'm sure, Laura, the Democrats groaning when President Trump mentioned the families of illegal alien crime victims who he honored in the box with First Lady Melania Trump. You'll remember people like Joy Reid, who snarked about MS13, saying that only people who watch FOX News cared about it when there are families of color who have lost loved ones to MS13 for decades.
INGRAHAM: A lot of Hispanic Americans and African-Americans have also suffered. It's all of America that has suffered. Dee, how do you respond to that?
DEE DAWKINS-HAIGLER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I respond by saying that it is totally cruel for the Republicans to have the government shut down. I mean, you have so many people who are depending on their paychecks and pay, for their life --
INGRAHAM: They'll all going to get paid back.
DAWKINS-HAIGLER: Yes, and they're --
INGRAHAM: They're all going to get paid back, they're all going to get their money. You know it as well as I do.
DAWKINS-HAIGLER: But the stress. It's like PTSD.
INGRAHAM: PTSD?
DAWKINS-HAIGLER: That people are suffering through right now, yes. Because can you imagine working on the job and you're not getting paid and you don't know when you're going to get paid? That's very stressful.
INGRAHAM: I would imagine that our servicemen and women who suffer from PTSD and are on the verge of suicide probably don't like us throwing around PTSD to describe missing a paycheck that you're definitely going to get reimbursed. If they weren't going to get reimbursed, and I would agree with you --
DAWKINS-HAIGLER: Well, PTSD is basically just post-traumatic stress disorder.
INGRAHAM: Both of you, I'm going to have you back for longer. I'm sorry this is a short segment tonight. You are both fabulous. We have a special announcement, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Finally tonight, I have some exciting news to announce. Next week I am launching my new show, "The Laura Ingraham Show Podcast" exclusively on PodcastOne. So if you liked my radio show, you're going to love this news show. Join me three days a week as I cover politics, pop culture, media bias, all of it. You don't have to worry, it is always going to be there.
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