Undocumented Lawyer Tries Defending Illegal Immigrants, Wasn't Ready for Tucker's Epic Question
Tucker Carlson has a major following among conservatives, and with good reason: He has a strong ability to get to the core of an issue without seeming snarky or hostile, and often makes well-reasoned points that leave his opponents sputtering.
That’s exactly what he did on Monday, during an interview with illegal immigrant attorney Cesar Vargas. In case you’re wondering, yes, Vargas is both an attorney for immigrants, and an admitted illegal alien himself.
To nobody’s surprise, the topic of the day was immigration policy, and Carlson asked an epic question — one that brought a fresh angle to the debate.
“Let me ask you a really simple question. If more immigration always makes the country richer, then why does the state with the most immigration, which is California, keep getting poorer?” Carlson asked, according to The Daily Caller.
“It now has more poverty than any state. One out of five Californians is poor. If immigration makes us richer, why is California getting poorer? What is the answer to that I wonder?” he continued, essentially challenging the leftist sacred cow of “diversity being our strength.”
Vargas tried to sidestep the question entirely, and would not admit that California’s poverty rate has been going up.
“Well I would just say that California has a surplus of more than $10 billion into their state economy. Why? Because many factors. But, because it‘s a welcoming state,” he deflected.
“Wait a second. Wait a second,” Carlson stopped his guest. “California’s gotten poorer–one in five Californians is poor. That was not the case when I grew up in California,” he pointed out.
“It has the most immigration. So if immigration always makes us more prosperous, why is the opposite happening in California? It’s a very simple question,” Carlson continued.
The facts are on Tucker Carlson’s side. While the outward image of the state is often one of sun and prosperity, all is not golden in California. It has slipped economically in recent years, and even left-leaning PolitiFact recently acknowledged this sad reality.
“California had the highest poverty rate, 20.6 percent, according to the census’ Supplemental Poverty Measure,” admitted the fact-checking site. “That study does account for cost-of-living, including taxes, housing and medical costs, and is considered by researchers a more accurate reflection of poverty.”
The immigration attorney Vargas still refused to make any connection between California’s zealous importation of immigrants and rising poverty levels.
“I don’t think it has to do with immigration. I think it has to do with the fact that we have to manage budgets right. And I think Republicans and Democrats would agree on that,” he deflected.
Carlson wasn’t satisfied.
“Oh, they have nothing to do with it? Even though California is now poorer than Mississippi–immigration, which is the main thing that separates California from Mississippi, has no role in that, because why? Do you have data on that or you just kind of don’t want to admit it like everyone else?” he challenged.
“We’re saying this country’s rich because of immigrants,” the Fox host pointed out. “Here’s the state with the most immigrants. Why is it the poorest state? I mean, am I being crazy? I think it’s a fair question.”
Vargas seemed to be stuck in denial.
“[T]he economy’s doing very well. And why? Because maybe of immigrants,” he responded.
“It’s doing so well that it’s the poorest state,” Carlson laughingly pointed out, after which point he appeared to have had enough of his guest’s nonsense.
“How about this? Why don’t we stop with the magical thinking and get real?” he declared.
“Because things are changing really fast in this country, and we care about our country, we want it to be the best it can be. And the point is not to make other countries happy, it’s to protect our people.”
It’s a very good point, and what’s happening in California should be a warning sign to the rest of America. We need to pay close attention, and not ignore the reality of unrestricted immigration.
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