On Fox, Ari Fleischer says dead migrant father and daughter should have come here legally. They tried, but were turned away.

Fleischer: “Don't swim across a river with a child that can't swim. There's legal ways into America. ... When you try to come to America illegally, you take so much risk onto your own shoulders”


From the June 26 edition of Fox News' Outnumbered

Video file

ARI FLEISCHER (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): This morning when I woke up and I saw that horrific picture of the dad with his little girl's arm around him who drowned in the river, all I could think of is an alternative picture: That's the immigrants who come here and raise their arm at an immigration ceremony with their little girls. Come here legally. This is the most wonderful, loving country that has --

JESSICA TARLOV (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Seeking asylum is legal. Seeking asylum is legal, Ari.

[CROSSTALK]

FLEISCHER: Then go to a checkpoint. Don't swim across a river with a child that can't swim. 

TARLOV: Excuse me, Ari.

FLEISCHER: There's legal ways into America.

...

ARI FLEISCHER: Well, what's the something? The something is comprehensive immigration reform, number one, that has border security. But what we really do need to do is let people know, come to America legally. Come to America properly. There are checkpoints, there are places where people can go to have their asylum cases adjudicated and heard. But when you try to come to America illegally, you take so much risk onto your own shoulders. 

HARRIS FAULKNER (CO-HOST): Are you afraid that people are going to think you're blaming the victims? 

FLEISCHER: No, the case here is not about this individual as a victim or not. The case here is about America and our policies. There is a broader picture than this. 

MELISSA FRANCIS (CO-HOST): We don't know -- we don't know why they were coming here, and that's the point Jessica was making. We don't know if they were coming for asylum or for economic reasons. If they were coming here for economic reasons, we do not want people risking their lives for economic reasons.

Related

NY Times: Photo of Drowned Migrants Captures Pathos of Those Who Risk It All

Vox: This photo of a dead father and daughter shows the true nature of Trump’s immigration policy

Previously

Fox & Friends host: “These aren't our kids. ... It's not like [Trump] is doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas”

Tucker Carlson: Immigration makes America “poorer, and dirtier, and more divided”

Laura Ingraham: “Most” of the migrants entering the US could be carrying diseases which may lead to a nationwide pandemic