Clinical psychologist and daytime TV icon Dr. Phil McGraw told Fox News it is time for a "call to action" from moderate, patriotic Americans against the illegal immigration crisis that has now seemingly been connected to multiple violent incidents, one of which left a Georgia college student dead.
McGraw said Monday that people have been increasingly less willing to speak out about political issues like immigration over the past decade, as the advent of social media can lead to them being targeted, blacklisted or occupationally reprimanded.
"They threaten to boycott the business that you work at if they don't get rid of you [or[ fire you; the ways you can be portrayed on social media platforms. People are just saying, look, it's easier not to speak out. And that has to stop," McGraw said Monday on "Jesse Watters Primetime."
McGraw was specifically responding to a viral TikTok video of an illegal immigrant holding a baby, who said the child – purportedly an American citizen – is his "gold mine" to shirk work and benefit from subsidies.
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"There has to be a call to action: This middle group of people throughout America that care about this country, love this country, need to say enough is enough and too much is too much. And I've got to stand up and speak up," McGraw said.
Dr, Phil said he consistently makes gestures of patriotism, such as standing for the national anthem, and has received criticism for doing so, However, he stressed Americans should not be ashamed of the United States and instead speak out on such issues because they love this country.
"Stop apologizing for having a border that's not a turnstile. I've been to the border… I'm not saying I'm a border expert. I'm certainly not a politician. But I've talked to the border agents down there. These are dedicated men and women. And they are so frustrated that they're not allowed to do their job," he said.
"They want to patrol the border, and they've become social workers."
Days after the Athens, Ga. murder of Laken Riley was linked to a Venezuelan national in the country illegally, authorities in the Lynchburg, Va. area said a 32-year-old migrant from that country was arrested on felony charges connected to sexual assault of a minor.
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The Maduro regime in Caracas has also effectively banned the repatriation of any Venezuelan nationals the U.S. adjudicates for deportation, and is not allowing such flights from North America.
The individual in the Virginia case, Renzo Montes, was detained and released by federal authorities in Texas last September.
On "Jesse Watters Primetime," McGraw reiterated how many Americans are afraid to take public stands on the issue, even given such macabre repercussions.
"If they… say we should control the border, then they're labeled as anti-immigration. They're labeled as haters for these different countries that people are coming from. But that's missing the point, isn't it?" he said.
McGraw said critics fail to delineate between legal and illegal immigration, remarking that he is staunchly pro-legal-immigration.
"We've got a 1.6 birthrate; we need 2.1 to sustain our infrastructure here – I welcome immigrants into this country, but we need to know who they are… we need to be able to sort through these people and [determine] those that are enemies of the United States," he said.
