by Daveda Gruber:
CNN anchor, Fareed Zakaria, admitted on Sunday that President Trump is right about the current asylum system and that the U.S. does have a crisis with the number of new arrivals at the southern border.
Yes, a CNN anchor actually agreed with Trump on the border problem. Don’t get me wrong, Zakaria was not praising the president, by any means, when he explained his views even though he mentioned that it “pains” him to say it.
Zakaria said, “Given President Trump’s mean-spirited and often bigoted attitudes on immigration, it pains me to say this, but he is right that the United States faces a crisis with its asylum system. Democrats might hope that the out of control situation at the southern border undermines Trump’s image among his base as a tough guy who can tackle immigration. But they should be careful. It could actually work to the president’s advantage.”
The CNN anchor is the host of “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” and was also critical of asylum rules that he called “vague, laxed and being gamed.”
Zakaria also said, “The Trump administration’s approach has been mostly to toughen up the criteria: hire more judges, push Mexico to keep applicants from entering the U.S. But a much larger fix is need. The criteria for asylum need to be rewritten and substantially tightened. The number of courts and officials dealing with asylum must be massively expanded. People should not be able to use asylum claims as a way to work in America. There needs to be a much greater cooperation with the home countries of the applicants rather than insults, threats, and aid freezes.”
Zakaria said asylum was initially intended for a small number of people in the most extreme circumstances and not as a process of immigration in itself. He said the rules need to be “substantially tightened.”
Zakaria tweeted this out:
The US faces a real crisis with its asylum system. My take: pic.twitter.com/5VAjV48Ipu
— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) July 2, 2019
He was quick to point out that “many” current asylum-seekers often have “suspiciously similar stories” and employ “identical phrases.”
Zakaria went on to say, “Democrats have spent most of their efforts on this topic, assailing the Trump administration for its heartlessness. Fine. But that does not address the roots of this genuine crisis. If things continue to spiral downward and America’s southern border seems out of control, Trump’s tough rhetoric and hard-line stance will become increasingly attractive to the public.”
You can see the video here:
The Trump administration’s policy that would keep thousands of asylum-seekers locked up while they pursue their cases was blocked on Tuesday, by a federal judge in Seattle.
The judge, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said that the Constitution demands that such migrants have a chance to be released from custody and are entitled to bond hearings.
Even Democrats have to be able to see that a crisis actually exists. Come on, a CNN anchor is admitting it. Trump was right and they were wrong.
