Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has weighed in on the contentious issue of immigration in the United States, particularly President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to address protests against immigration raids.
Schwarzenegger, a prominent Republican, expressed his views at an event for his Netflix show “Fubar” this week.
When asked about the federal troop deployment, Schwarzenegger redirected the focus to a broader issue: the failure of politicians to enact comprehensive immigration reform.
“Well, I’m not so much interested in that as I am that the politicians have the responsibility to create immigration reform so we don’t have to have this crap going on in the first place,” he told Variety.
The actor and former politician squarely blamed both Democrats and Republicans for the ongoing problems.
“This is the result of Democrats and Republicans not being able to come together in this immigration reform,” he asserted. “That’s what needs to be done so that you don’t have to go and start arresting people in the first place, so we know who is in this country and who is working here, who has the temporary working permit, and who has the permanent working permit.”
Schwarzenegger further criticised what he perceives as a deliberate avoidance of the issue by both parties for political gain.
“We don’t even know who is in here,” he remarked. “For decades now, they have been avoiding the subject because it’s an advantage to both parties not to do it. So they’re all political hacks, party hacks, rather than public servants.”
His “Fubar” co-star, Gabriel Luna, also commented on the situation, suggesting that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resources are misdirected.
Luna argued that efforts should target more significant issues rather than “the 15 guys waiting to get a job at 5 a.m. at the Home Depot parking lot,” who he noted are often the ones being apprehended.
Schwarzenegger served as California’s governor from 2003 to 2011.
