Geraldo Snipes At Minutemen, INS Agents During Immigration Rant

On the March 27th edition of his Fox News syndicated program Geraldo At Large, Geraldo Rivera let loose on the Minutemen and other opponents of illegal immigration. During the final commentary portion of the show Rivera's slam included some violent imagery:

"And you can’t blame the illegals for worrying about what’s next. Will some politicians seeking the Minuteman vote order cops to shoot them wading across the Rio Grande River and for what? Wanting a job in a meat packing plant or an apple orchard?Do you know why those demonstrations over the weekend were so much larger than anyone including the organizers thought they’d be? It’s because many religious leaders feared that the various bills being considered today in Washington would make it a felony to feed, shelter or provide health care to illegals. They have an image of the migra busting at the churches and arresting the parish priest for running the free breakfast program. "

The following is Rivera's entire commentary at the end of the show. It does include an endorsement of George W. Bush's position but quite frankly I think this is one endorsement the President wouldn't want:

Geraldo Rivera: "On a weekend in which all I wanted to do was spend time with the kids and watch maybe the best college basketball tournament ever played two news stories conspired to wreck my buzz. One was the continuing carnage in Iraq where if you think there’s not a religious civil war raging you’re in denial. The other was the exploding immigration issue where suddenly hundreds of thousands of protestors are in the streets. And politicians of every stripe are saying, ‘Eureka! This is the wedge issue for 2006.’ Fired by congressional proposals that would it a felony to be in the United States without proper papers and a federal crime to help people who are here illegally the vast sea of demonstrators will be hard for the Senate to ignore today as it debates the fate of more than 11 million illegals, 78 percent of whom hail from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Aside from the brutish move to make felons out of millions of mostly hard-working, law-abiding people there is an even harsher proposal being offered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Unlike the President’s plan which includes provisions for a guest worker program all Senator Frist seems interested in is punishment and prevention, beefing up the border patrol and imposing fines on any employer who knowingly hires an undocumented worker. And you can’t blame the illegals for worrying about what’s next. Will some politicians seeking the Minuteman vote order cops to shoot them wading across the Rio Grande River and for what? Wanting a job in a meat packing plant or an apple orchard? Do you know why those demonstrations over the weekend were so much larger than anyone including the organizers thought they’d be? It’s because many religious leaders feared that the various bills being considered today in Washington would make it a felony to feed, shelter or provide health care to illegals. They have an image of the migra busting at the churches and arresting the parish priest for running the free breakfast program. President Bush is on the right track when he urges realistic compassion for the temporary worker program."

[George W. Bush: "This program would provide a legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill the jobs that Americans are unwilling to do."]

Rivera: "Probably the best Senate proposal is the one offered jointly by Senators Kennedy and McCain whose bill would grant hundreds of thousands of new visas for guest workers also giving those here illegally a chance to stay if they pay a modest fine, try to learn English and get on line for a green card. And doesn’t that make more sense than making them all felons as Senator McCain said recently."

[Sen. John McCain: "If you took them all and departed, deported them any economist would tell you that our economy would literally grind to a halt."]

Rivera: "Senator Frist may think he has found this year’s gay marriage to rally social conservatives to his banner. Instead he’s only undermined our President, divided his own party and emotionally aggravated the situation that demands mature thought and reason.

‘Till next time, thanks for watching."