Bill Maher Confronts Dr. Phil on Joining Trump Admin's ICE Raids
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Comedian and television host Bill Maher pressed television personality and former clinical psychologist, Dr. Phil, on Friday about his inclusion in the Trump administration's ongoing nationwide immigration raids.
Why It Matters
Phil McGraw or better known as Dr. Phil who is widely known for his television career, is a vocal supporter of the Trump administration. He has spoken at campaign rallies, interviewed the then-Republican candidate, and been present atImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids since Donald Trump took office in January, including operations in Chicago and Los Angeles.
The Trump administration has spearheaded a major immigration crackdown, vowing to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. The initiative has seen an intensification of ICE raids across the country, with thousands of people detained and many deported.
What To Know
Maher, host of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, asked his guest, Dr. Phil, about his reasoning for joining the immigration raids.
"Why are you going on these ICE raids? I don't understand that," Maher said. "You're a guy who we know for so many years who has been working to put families together; to bring families who are apart and heal them. And now you're going on raids with people who are literally separating families. Explain that to me."
Dr. Phil quickly countered, "Well, now that's bull****."
Maher then interjected, "That's not bull****...They're not separating families?"
Dr. Phil continued, "Look, if you arrest somebody that's a citizen, that has committed a crime or is DUI'd with a child in the backseat, do you think they don't separate that family right then, right there? Of course they do!"
"But that's not what's going on," Maher argued.
Dr. Phil then referenced part of Maher's earlier monologue, turning to talk about how ICE agents have to wear masks because of "doxxing" concerns.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported in July that ICE agents "are facing an 830 increase in assaults from January 21st to July 14th compared with the same period in 2024."
Dr. Phil defended the ICE agents, saying they are simply doing their jobs by carrying out the raids, saying, "They didn't make the laws; they didn't make that law. What are you expecting them to do, just not do their job? If you don't like the law, change it. I don't like that law, at all. Change the law!"
Maher then asked, "If you don't like it then why are you going?" which drew applause from the live audience. Dr. Phil responded, "Because that is the law."
Earlier this summer, large-scale clashes between protesters and immigration officials in Los Angeles prompted the deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city. Dr. Phil was on the ground in Los Angeles with his TV channel, Merit TV, for the raids, while earlier in January he partook in a ride-along with border czar Tom Homan during the Chicago raids.
Dr. Phil speaks before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024, in New York. Bill Maher arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March...
Dr. Phil speaks before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024, in New York. Bill Maher arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 2 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California. More
AP Photo/Alex Brandon/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
What People Are Saying
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement previously shared with Newsweek: "Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump's and the American people's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make American safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history."
A Department of Justice spokesperson previously told Newsweek: "The entire Trump Administration is united in fully enforcing our nation's immigration laws, and the DOJ continues to play an important role in vigorously defending the President's deportation agenda in court."
What Happens Next?
Democratic leaders and human rights advocates have criticized the Trump administration's immigration policies, citing reports of inhumane conditions in detention centers and during detention procedures. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has repeatedly defended the department and its facilities, and has called for expanding ICE's detention capacity.
Raids are expected to continue as the administration pledges to deport people without proper documentation.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
30 minutes ago
- UPI
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatens indefinite special sessions
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, pictured at the White House in February, has threatened rolling special legislative sessions as Democrats fled the state to thwart efforts to redraw Texas congressional maps. File photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbot is threatening to call a series of rolling special legislative sessions to push the Trump administration's efforts to redraw voting district boundaries in the state, the governor said Sunday. Abbott argued during an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that he has the authority to keep the Texas Legislature in session indefinitely, which would extend penalties for Democrats who have fled Washington for liberal-leaning states in an effort to sidestep a vote on efforts by the Trump administration to redraw Texas' congressional voting district to favor the GOP. Democratic lawmakers from Texas fled the state to deny the legislature the quorum it needs to vote on the change to legislative districts, which they contend are being crafted to benefit Republicans and disenfranchise Democrats, many of whom are Black and Latino. Democrats flew to Illinois and other states run by Democratic governors, where they have received backing from state officials and politicians and who have criticized the GOP for its efforts to shape the voting districts in Republicans' favor. Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker has been vocal in his support of the Texas Democrats, and among the most vocal opponents of President Donald Trump and the Republican party's efforts to remake the voting districts. Abbott has called the Illinois congressional voting map a joke. "Governor Abbot is the joke," Pritzker said Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press. Pritzker bristled at allegations that Illinois' congressional lines have been gerrymandered, which Abbott and other members of the GOP have contended. Pritzker offered as evidence the fact that Trump won 44% of the statewide vote in the 2024 presidential election even though Republicans hold just 3 of the state's 17 congressional districts. Pritzker said Illinois took public opinion into account before designing Illinois's voting boundaries, and said they are fair. "We held public hearings, legislative hearings," Pritzker continued. "People attended them. They spoke out. There was a map put out. There we actually made changes to the map. And a map was passed, and it was done at the end of the census, to the decennial census. So that's how it's done in this country." Abbott pressed his point and said Texas Democrats would be arrested upon their return. "If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol," Abbott said Sunday. "If they want to evade that arrest, they're gonna have to stay outside the state of Texas for literally years." Abbott argued that Democrats are violating an article in the Texas constitution that requires them to act on measures before the legislature. He said because they are violating a constitutional mandate, "they are not fulfilling their oath of office, and they can be removed from office in this legal action that I am taking." Abbot has gone further, threatening to increase the redistricting margin for Republicans if Democrats fail to return to Austin.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
1,600 illegal migrants — including MS-13 members and international fugitives — busted on Long Island this year
More than 1,600 illegal migrants on Long Island — including MS-13 members, murderers and international fugitives — have been taken into custody by ICE since the start of the year, according to the feds. The hoards of criminals swept up as part of ramped-up enforcement under President Trump all have prior convictions, with some presumably already deported and others still in custody waiting to get the boot, said officials — aided in their efforts by both Nassau and Suffolk county authorities. 'Since Jan. 20, ICE has significantly increased its immigration enforcement activities with additional support from other federal as well as local law enforcement agencies,' the agency told The Post about its operations on Long Island. Advertisement 5 According to the feds, over 1,600 illegal migrants on Long Island, murderers and international fugitives have been taken into custody by ICE since the beginning of 2025. 'We have especially welcomed our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement officials in Nassau County,' it said. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman had struck a deal in February that set aside 50 county jail cells for immigration detainees, a move that has so far funneled more than 1,400 immigrants picked up from all over the New York City area through the facility in just months. Blakeman also signed an agreement with the feds to deputize 10 local detectives into ICE to help arrest and jail immigrants without legal status. Advertisement 'ICE law enforcement, along with our partners, are doing what 'Sanctuary' politicians refuse to do — protect the American people,' the agency said, denouncing the liberal policy of refusing to allow cops to coordinate with immigration agents. The agency cited a list of who it considers the worst of the worst that it has picked up in both counties since the start of the year, including the notorious gang members, killers and sought global suspects. But ICE would not say how many of the 1,600 people rounded up had serious versus low-level prior offenses or how many others without criminal records have also been taken into custody — a category that includes a Port Washington bagel shop manager and a Suffolk County Community College student in recent months. Advertisement 5 Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an agreement with the feds to deputize 10 local detectives into ICE to help arrest and jail illegal immigrants. Getty Images 5 ICE would not say how many of the 1,600 people rounded up had serious versus low-level prior offenses. Getty Images 'ICE is going after criminals first,' Blakeman said Thursday. 'Yes, when they go after criminals, there could be other people who are caught up. But what I do know is, they're not raiding schools, and they're not raiding churches.' Nassau County Legislator Seth Koslow, a Democrat running against Blakeman for county executive in November, has called for the incumbent to limit cooperation with ICE to cases involving violent crimes and not to use county resources to target immigrants without serious convictions. Advertisement If elected, Koslow would apparently likely end Nassau's current partnership with the agency. 5 'ICE is going after criminals first,' Blakeman said. 'Yes, when they go after criminals, there could be other people who are caught up. But what I do know is, they're not raiding schools, and they're not raiding churches.' AFP via Getty Images 'I believe Nassau County's resources should only be used to assist ICE in removing violent criminals who threaten our neighborhoods, not to go after hardworking, taxpaying residents who are contributing to our community,' Koslow said. Suffolk officials, on the other hand, have recently distanced themselves from cooperating with ICE in part because of a $60 million court ruling earlier this year tied to the sheriff department's past work with the agency. Still, federal agents continue to find a foothold in the county. In Islip, a taxpayer-funded gun range is being used to train ICE agents under a quiet Department of Homeland Security deal, and in Brentwood, a local firehouse parking lot was taken over by ICE as a makeshift base of operations. 5 Suffolk County officials have recently distanced themselves from cooperating with ICE in part due to a $60 million court ruling tied to the sheriff department's past work with the agency. Getty Images ICE also is still getting help from both counties through what's known as immigration 'detainers' — a request for local officials to tip the agency off when specific people in custody are about to be released. Sheriffs in Nassau and Suffolk both said they give ICE advanced notice, letting agents wait outside the jail to make an arrest the moment someone they're targeting walks out. Advertisement Between January and June, ICE issued 635 detainers on Long Island — 341 in Nassau and 294 in Suffolk — mostly for men from Central and South America in their late 30s who, according to UC Berkeley's Deportation Data Project, weren't charged with serious crimes. Detainers don't require review by a court or judge, and local law enforcement isn't legally obligated to respond. ICE did not confirm the research group's numbers.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
‘We're not leaving': Border Patrol uses ‘Trojan Horse' unmarked truck to resume deportation raids
A group of masked Border Patrol agents leapt out of an unmarked commercial truck and arrested 16 people on Wednesday outside a Home Depot store in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, in an operation critics say violates a series of recent court rulings against the Trump administration. 'For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,' Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose district includes Los Angeles, wrote in a statement on X. 'The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.' The raid, which officials later called Operation Trojan Horse, began around 6:45am, according to bystanders. A yellow Penske box truck reportedly approached day laborers in the parking lot of the store and someone asked for workers in Spanish. As a crowd gathered, the doors to the truck's trailer flew open and agents jumped out, chasing people through the parking lot. "This is the worst feeling ever," a day laborer who identified himself as Caesar told The Los Angeles Times of watching the raid. Critics said the raid violated a Friday ruling from the federal Ninth Circuit Court, which upheld a temporary restraining order barring Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out roving immigration raids solely on the basis of people's perceived ethnicity, language, location, or occupation. The ruling came after a lower court paused such raids in response to a lawsuit from immigrants and civil rights groups accusing federal agents of racial profiling during their immigration sweeps across the Los Angeles area, making arrests that included a U.S. citizen and a lawfully present day laborer outside a Home Depot. 'Border Patrol at a Home Depot in Los Angeles days after the 9th circuit affirmed a court order that purports to block this exact behavior,' David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute think tank, wrote on Bluesky. 'They don't even know who they're chasing! This is insane. Send them all to jail.' The Department of Homeland Security believes that the MS-13 gang has a 'chokehold' on the area, part of the rationale for such 'highly optic immigration raids,' Matt Finn of Fox News, who embedded with agents for the Home Depot operation, reported on X. The Independent has contacted the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli's office for comment. "This morning, Border Patrol conducted a targeted raid, dubbed Trojan Horse, in Los Angeles at a Home Depot that resulted in the arrest of 16 illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua,' the Border Patrol said in a statement to The Independent, which did not comment on questions regarding the legality of the raids. 'Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances,' Penske said in a statement on X. 'The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today's operation and did not authorize this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.' The Border Patrol has raided the store parking lot before, and Wednesday's operation came as the agency continued to carry out operations across the Los Angeles area. 'Different day, different illegal aliens, same objective,' the Border Patrol's Gregory Bovino, commander of the multi-agency Operation At Large, wrote on X, sharing video of agents arresting men outside a car wash. 'We're on a mission here in Los Angeles. And we're not leaving until we accomplish our goals.' Los Angeles, which has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country, has been at the center of the Trump administration's unprecedented immigration crackdown. Federal officials sent National Guard troops and Marines to the city over the objection of local and state officials in the face of mass protests against federal raids. The Border Patrol has made use of rules allowing it to operate within 100 miles of any U.S. border to carry out large-scale raids across Los Angeles, Sacramento, and farm areas in the state's Central Valley. Solve the daily Crossword
