A guest panellist on CNN has made the astonishing revelation that he recently scolded the wife of his best friend at a dinner party for entering the U.S. illegally, telling her: “I am sorry that you decided to break the law.”
Conservative radio host Ben Ferguson was appearing on the network’s NewsNight discussion show, moderated by host Abby Phillip, on Thursday night when he was challenged by fellow contributor Van Jones on whether he knew any undocumented migrants as they discussed ICE raids across the country.
“I know you very well and I know for sure, if you knew the people that we’re talking about, you would be standing with us,” Jones said to Ferguson.
That’s when Ferguson dropped his bombshell.
“One of my best friends married an illegal immigrant. We had this conversation at dinner and I said to her, ‘I am sorry that you decided to break the law.’
“There are a lot of Americans that break laws and they go to jail and there’s a consequence for your actions,” he said.
A shocked Phillip interjected to ask him to clarify: “Hold on, Ben. So you said that you have a friend whose wife is an illegal immigrant and you said to that person, to her…”
“I had them on my show. I had them literally on my show because it’s an important conversation to have,” Ferguson explained, referring to the podcast he co-hosts with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
“You said to her, ‘You need to be deported’?” Phillip asked.
“I said the same thing that my dad said to me if I ever got arrested: ‘Don’t expect me to bail you out, you’re accountable for your actions,’” he answered.
“And what I said to her was this, ‘I think you’re an incredible human being. I love that you have this love with your family and friends. It doesn’t erase, your kindness or your love, the fact that you broke the law.’”
Asked, “Did you call ICE on her?,” he responded: “I’m not gonna call ICE on someone.”
“They had already had an interaction with the law. They were already going through the process.”
