“A Remarkable Political Document”: Fox & Friends Praises Trump's Immigration Plan

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Fox & Friends praised Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's newly released immigration plan as a “remarkable political document” and “an early Christmas gift” for conservatives who desire immigration reform. Trump's plan calls for Mexico to pay to build a wall on the US-Mexico border -- an idea Fox & Friends has repeatedly endorsed -- and ending birthright citizenship, a right guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. From the August 17 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends (emphasis added):

BRIAN KILMEADE: Let's look at what Donald Trump is doing. He's doing what he promised when it came to one of the most substantive and consequential issues out there. He's put together a detailed immigration plan.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Some saying initially that he was too vague. Strong on his delivery, but vague on the details. But now the details have come forward. He said he wants a wall across the southern border, and he's calling for deportation of millions of immigrants in the United States that are here illegally. Also ending of automatic citizenship for children --

KILMEADE: This is the biggest --

HASSELBECK: -- born to foreigners in the United States. Really making a differentiation there between his plan and what Jeb Bush has laid out thus far. Also saying that the plan must improve jobs, wages, and security for all Americans. He lays out on his website the three core principles on immigration reform which this is founded on, that it's not a nation if it doesn't have borders, a nation without laws is not a nation, and a nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation.

STEVE DOOCY: Absolutely. So for the candidate who had been -- you know, the critics have said, you know, he's all style, no substance -- he's come out with this remarkable political document on immigration. He sat down with, actually stood up in his 757 yesterday for part of the interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.

[...]

HASSELBECK: But if you go in and look at his policy, he wants to triple the number of ICE officers. He wants nation-wide e-verify. He wants mandatory return of all criminal aliens. He wants to defund sanctuary cities. He wants detention, not catch and release. Enhance penalties for overstaying a visa and completion of that visa tracking system, which is yet to be done, and he wants ICE to work with local officials in terms of gang members.

KILMEADE: A lot of this is aspirational. You're not gonna kick out 20 million, 30 million, 12 million, depending on the number. You got to find them first.

DOOCY: It's an early Christmas gift to conservatives who have looked at the immigration problem in this country and said can't anybody do anything?