WATCH: CNN Panel Tears Into Rick Santorum After He Tells Immigration Backers ‘Give Out Your Addresses’
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum knocked immigration supporters Sunday, suggesting they hand out their home addresses, invite migrants over and fund their education.
“This is what I would say to all of you,” he told Jake Tapper‘s CNN panel. “You want America to be open, fine. Give your addresses out and tell the people who come to this country you can come to my house. You can come to my house and you can stay here as long as you want. I will pay for your education.”
Commentator Ana Navarro immediately jumped in, taking aim at Santorum’s pointed remarks, telling him he was misstating what immigration advocates want.
“Nobody is saying we want an open country,” she said. “What we are simply saying is we don’t want 2-year-olds torn from the arms of their mothers and crying.”
Santorum, who seems to feel that treatment of migrants comes down to a matter of legality and seeking asylum through the use of an embassy rather than crossing the border on one’s own, made an unemotional case against them, stating that there is a consequence to being compassionate.
However, Navarro said the fallout of the current handling of immigration would be intense emotional trauma.
“The consequence of that is we’re going to have 2,000 children who will have incredible damage, emotional damage,” she said. “The consequence of that is human suffering.”
Navarro also took great issue with Attorney General Jeff Sessions‘ invocation of scripture in defense of the status quo, calling it “utmost cynicism to quote scripture–the same scripture that was quoted to justify slavery. Shame on any Christian that is doing that.”
Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm also weighed in, echoing Navarro’s correction of Santorum’s false claim that the panelists wanted open borders, and asked for him to show some empathy as a father.
“What we do want is to be a nation who has compassion,” Granholm said. “Rick, you have seven children. If you were living in Honduras which is the country with the highest child homicide rate, the country with the highest female homicide rate, gangs, you would not leave all seven of your children there. You would want to save them. You could drive nails through my hands, you could whip me on my back but do not take my children away. That to me is totally not who we are as a country.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
[Image via screengrab]
