‘We Need More Immigration, Not Less’: CNN’s Van Jones Urges DeSantis to Convene Governors Instead of ‘Pimping the Pain of the Border Towns’

CNN political commentator Van Jones reacted to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) flying Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard by saying that immigration was needed to help combat inflation, urging the governor to forgo the “political stunts” and instead work with other governors for reform.

CNN Newsroom anchor Jim Acosta brought on Jones and former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), noting an interview he had just conducted with New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on the controversial tactic used by DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to transport immigrants to Democrat-controlled areas.

What DeSantis and Abbott were doing, said Jones, was “really shameful.”

“There is a way to handle something like this,” Jones continued. “I think we need more immigration and not less. If we could get more people here working, it would probably help with inflation and everything else.”

There was an “orderly way” to manage immigration, said Jones, but “unfortunately” the current situation was a “complete break down.”

What was needed, he argued, was for “someone like DeSantis to convene the governors — he could use the National Governor’s Association, a bipartisan group — and say, ‘look, we can’t do any more, we need your help,’ and you coordinate it.”

“That’s not what they’re doing at all,” said Jones. “They’re just doing these stunts and these ambushes” to “score political points.”

“They’re making a point; they’re not solving the problem,” he said, describing it as “pimping the pain of the border towns that do need help” to make these “political grand gestures,” which he said was “disgusting.”

Comstock concurred, noting that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) had thanked his fellow Republican governor for sending the asylum seekers to his state because they needed workers, as so many states currently do.

“We need to have immigration reform,” said Comstock, mentioning how in 2018 Republicans like Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) had supported a immigration reform bill that then-President Donald Trump said he would sign, then-Congressman DeSantis, a member of the Freedom Caucus, had opposed it.

“The Freedom Caucus always wanted to have issues, rather than solutions,” said Comstock.

It would be a “great thing,” she said, for President Joe Biden to convene people like Baker, Curbelo, and Hurd “and call the bluff of governors like Governor DeSantis” by working together on border security and immigration reform solutions that people want.

The U.S. really did need more service workers, more nurses, and “more legal immigration,” she argued, and she was confident Biden would “find a lot Republicans who want to help in that regard.”

“Right, there are people in both parties who want to treat these migrants humanely, in addition to getting them jobs,” replied Acosta.

“Yes, these are asylum seekers from Venezuela,” said Comstock, saying she thought Republicans wanted to support asylum seekers who were fleeing countries like Venezuela, “where we oppose what is going on.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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