Don Lemon got into a squabble with a legal immigrant from Mexico on the topic of illegal immigration, telling the woman “it’s not a crime” to enter the U.S. illegally during a live stream on the ex-CNN star’s YouTube channel on Friday.
“Crossing the border illegally is not a crime?” the woman asked him, minutes into their argument.
“No, it’s not a criminal act! It’s a misdemeanor,” Lemon responded.
He added: “That’s the point, we don’t know if they’re breaking the law because [ICE and Border Patrol] won’t tell. there’s no due process. Where’s the evidence? That’s the whole point.”
The back-and-forth happened in Chicago, where President Donald Trump — who Lemon ripped as a “criminal” — has sent ICE and Border Patrol agents to deport people who entered the country illegally.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) have repeatedly criticized the president’s plan, as well as his push to thwart crime using the National Guard, with Pritzker a few days ago challenging the president by saying, “If you come for my people, you come through me.”
Lemon then told the woman it is merely a “misdemeanor” and “not a criminal act” to enter the country illegally. He worked himself into a bit of a pretzel from there.
“Then why get charged at all then, if it’s not a criminal act?” the woman asked him.
“Because we have different levels of crime, everything is not the same,” Lemon told her.
“So it is a crime? It’s just different level—” she asked.
“No, I shouldn’t say different levels, it’s not a crime. You’re not breaking the law. I mean, you are breaking the law, but it’s not a criminal act,” Lemon said.
At that point, a man who was with the woman jumped in and asked Lemon if drinking and driving or speeding was “breaking the law.”
Lemon said speeding was a misdemeanor, and that this whole argument had now come down to “semantics.”
The woman, earlier in her interview, said she had legally moved to the U.S. from Mexico and now lived in Kansas City. She said she is obviously pro-immigration, but “they have to do it the right way.”
She added “It’s not about hating people,” but simply following the law. Lemon said he understood that, but his issue was with people getting “roughed up” by federal agents.
Watch above via The Don Lemon Show on YouTube.
The post Don Lemon Battles Legal Mexican Immigrant on Illegal Immigration: ‘It’s Not a Crime!’ first appeared on Mediaite.