Priceless: Watch Tucker Flip the Script, Then Corner Smooth-Talking Mexican Official
It’s not unusual that government officials aren’t really keen on answering questions in a straight-up way. However, Juan Hernandez may have set some sort of record for evasion during an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show.
Hernandez is the secretary of migrant and foreign affairs in the Mexican state of Guanajuato and he appeared on Carlson’s show this week to talk about why Central Americans who were passing through Mexico — many of whom are now requesting asylum in the United States — shouldn’t be allowed to stay there.
Hernandez has a history of controversial remarks, as Carlson pointed out.
Among things that the secretary of migrant and foreign affairs has said: “Mexican population is 100 million in Mexico and 23 million who live in the United States … We are a united nation” and “We are betting Mexican-Americans will think Mexico first, even unto the seventh generation.”
“I wonder if a government takes that position, that it’s sending foreign nationals to your country. That is a hostile act. So, why are we sending money to a country committing hostile acts against us?” Carlson asked.
“No, it’s not, my friend, no, no it’s not a hostile act at all,” Hernandez said. He explained the quote away as being from “about 15 years ago.”
“The United States and Mexico are friends, they are partners.”
Hernandez, as you can see, was profoundly evasive to the point where it seemed a bit like a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. The evasion became more apparent after he was asked why Mexico wasn’t “stopping migrants from Central America before they get to the United States.”
“Mexico is encouraging them to come here,” Carlson said. “That is not the behavior of an ally. They are not welcome. They are not here legally. We have a process, and they are not going through the process. So, that is an act of hostility and you can lie about it all you want, but we know that it is.”
Carlson then took issue with how Mexico treats immigrants from countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
“Why not let them stay forever? Vote in your elections? But remain Guatemalan and Hondurans … Why don’t you let them do that?” Carlson asked, flipping the script. “And they can account for a third of your population? Why would that be bad? Why are you kicking them out after a year?”
“These are individuals escaping hunger and violence,” Hernandez responded. “These are good people. Looking for a better life. These good people, these are not bad people.”
“Please answer my question. They’re in Mexico. Why are you kicking them out? They’re good people who just want to work,” Carlson said.
He also wondered why Mexico didn’t “let them stay forever and vote in your elections, but remain Guatemalans and Hondurans ‘unto the seventh generation,’ as you said about your own people, about Mexican citizens?”
But that’s the thing. Mexico is just fine with allowing illegal immigrants in so long as they don’t stay there. The United States, on the other hand, is expected to play by different rules.
Hernandez never had a particularly good answer to Carlson’s question, or really any answer at all. After all, if illegal immigration isn’t bad, why is Mexico kicking them out after a year? Hernandez talked smoothly, but there wasn’t any substance there.
Eventually, Carlson got fed up: “Now I’m getting mad,” he said. “I’m gonna stop this.”
The administration’s trying to stop the status quo, too. Mexico’s tolerance of illegal immigration is based on the fact that immigrants are not going to remain there. That’s going to change a bit now that the Migrant Protection Protocols — otherwise known as the “remain in Mexico” — policy begins expanding. Once we see a shared burden, the odds are better that we’re going to see a real resolution to the migrant crisis.
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