Fox News host Jesse Watters on Tuesday claimed that he is able to identify illegal immigrants in New York at a glance—and when pressed to explain himself, insisted simply that he “can tell” because he’s “a city guy.”
On The Five, Watters was discussing how Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been busing migrants into the city since at least last August, partly as a revenge tactic in response to the Biden Administration’s opposition to a Trump-era policy that uses Covid-19 as a reason to facilitate more expulsions. That policy, called Title 42, is set to end May 11, and the White House announced Tuesday that it is preparing to send 1,500 troops to the border ahead of an expected surge of migrants.
New York Mayor Eric Adams on Monday criticized Abbott, who has also used his authority to send migrants to places like Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, for “targeting” cities with Black mayors.
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According to Watters, Adams’ remark was “stupid.”
“This is like a lawyer complaining that all of these people are coming to them with problems. That's what you signed up for. You’re a sanctuary city!” he exclaimed.
Race isn’t a factor in Abbott’s decision, Watters then said, claiming that Abbott didn’t bus migrants to New York during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s time in office (2014 through 2021) because there weren’t as many border apprehensions then.
Watters also asked, “Is the mayor of Martha’s Vineyard Black or white?” (In fact, it was Florida Gov. Ron Desantis who arranged two migrant flights last September to the Massachusetts island, which consists of six towns, each governed by a select board rather than a mayor.)
Watters then claimed to have witnessed migrants firsthand in New York City, where the Fox News studios are located.
“I saw on the way into work an illegal immigration family digging through the trash looking for recyclables,” Watters said, prompting co-host Jessica Tarlov to ask him how he was so sure.
“You can tell,” claimed Watters, whose explanation didn’t fly with Tarlov. “I can tell! I’m a city guy. You don’t want me to get into it, but I can tell.”
“It’s the saddest thing to see because they’re not able to work here. They came to work, but they’re not able to work here,” he continued. “The point is this: you have to be able to choose the people that come into the country based on needs. If you need this type of person, bring them in. But to just say everybody come in and then, oops, you know, now people are looking for a five cent bottle, that’s not right. And you can’t blame the guy down in Texas for that. Joe Biden is the common denominator for all of this.”
