O'Reilly holds up North Korea as exemplar of border security

Summary: During a discussion on illegal immigration on his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly cited North Korea as a successful example of border security. Responding to O'Reilly's observation that "[n]obody gets into North Korea," his guest, the Cato Institute's Daniel T. Griswold, retorted: "Nobody wants to."

On the March 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, during a discussion on illegal immigration with Daniel T. Griswold, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies, Bill O'Reilly cited North Korea as an example of a nation that has successfully maintained border security. Dismissing the effectiveness of "guest worker" programs to control illegal immigration, O'Reilly said: "The criminals are still going to get in here in a furtive way." Arguing for "stringent" measures, O'Reilly continued, "[Y]ou can go to any country in the world and watch how they do it. It's doable. Nobody gets into North Korea, all right? They've sealed up that border." Responding to O'Reilly's observation that "[n]obody gets into North Korea," Griswold retorted: "Nobody wants to."

North Korea borders South Korea on its southern border with the heavily fortified, four-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone that was negotiated in 1953 with the cease-fire of the Korean War. North Korea also borders China and Russia.

O'Reilly has made other dubious comments about immigration, as Media Matters for America has documented (here, here, here, and here).

From the March 8 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: I'm for controlling all the borders. But you guys at Cato have gotta wise up a little bit. You're not gonna solve the illegal immigrant hordes coming in here by having an effective guest worker program because the criminals aren't gonna sign up for that. The criminals are still gonna get in here in a furtive way. And unless you put stringent -- and you can go to any country in the world and watch how they do it. It's doable. Nobody gets into North Korea, all right?

GRISWOLD: Nobody wants to.

O'REILLY: They've sealed up that border.

—K.D.