'Let's not call BS!' CNN panelists clash over 'anti-Blackness' in Trump policies

A pair of CNN panelists clashed over the "anti-Blackness" inherent to Donald Trump's immigration policies.

The president-elect has promised to crack down on immigrants living in the U.S., and his running mate J.D. Vance estimated that could result in a million people forcibly removed the country per year, and conservative commentator Shermichael Singleton argued that policy shouldn't be considered controversial.

"I do, I guess, question what the systemic approach would be," Singleton said. "This is an interesting topic to me. In 1988, vice president [Kamala] Harris' father, who's an economist, renowned economist, taught at Stanford for a number of years, wrote a very interesting treatise, talking about immigration at the time, and how an influx of illegal immigration creates competition for lower-skilled Americans. I thought that was fascinating. So if that's the premise of the argument from the Trump administration or the incoming administration, I certainly understand it."

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"So the question for me becomes, if you're going to remove criminals, I think most Americans would say, 'Yeah, that makes perfect sense,'" Singleton added. "In terms of people who are actively working in the country, what is the approach for them to become legalized citizens. What does that look like? How much time does it take? Is there a fear or fine associated with them coming into the country illegally and having stayed for so much time? Most Americans would say, that seems logical, I can understand it, it's systematic, it makes a lot of sense, you're not harming people or ripping families apart. So that's how I would personally want to approach this – remove criminals, in terms of other individuals that are contributing to our society, have a systemic approach to gain citizenship."

Singleton argued that foreign nationals brought to the U.S. as children should be given a path to citizenship but also subject to fines, and former Democratic National Committee official Michael Blake heard enough.

"The anti-Blackness that just happened in Shermichael's comments is very concerning," Blake said. "The reference he just utilized is the vice president's father, when talking about a policy on illegal immigrants – let's be very clear. There is one entity that has been pushing this and that is Donald Trump, and that's why Democrats have to counter that every step of the way."

Singleton protested, saying that most Americans were worried about immigration, but Blake said his reference to a paper written more than 35 years ago by the vice president's father was racist.

"I could list a litany of examples, Michael," Singleton said, talking over Blake as the segment ended. "Let's not call B.S. this morning. Immigration is a problem. Most Americans find it to be a problem, including many Democrats."

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