HBO host Bill Maher was corrected by Fusion and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos for saying “illegals” on Friday’s “Real Time.”
After Maher used the term “illegals,” Ramos corrected him with “We don’t call them illegals.”
Maher then jokingly answered, “Sorry, transgender.” In response, Ramos maintained, “No human being is illegal,” and that words matter.
Maher then responded, “Well, I mean some people are illegal. Why is that a bad word, if you’re illegal?”
Ramos said that there’s a “double standard” because the companies who hire illegal immigrants aren’t called “illegals,” to which Maher agreed, but said maybe they should be called illegals. After Ramos continued that the Americans who benefit from the labor of illegal immigrants also aren’t called illegals, Maher agreed, but stated, “We should call them all ‘illegals.'”
Maher later did agree with Ramos that illegal immigrants should be called what they are, undocumented, and that instead of “anchor babies,” US citizens” should be used.
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