Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Of we the People, tackling current issues, both political and legal, with common sense.
As we the People, we must bring common sense back to make our lives better. Only on NOW Media tv.
[00:00:23] Speaker C: Good evening and welcome back to another episode of we the People where we tackle current issues with common sense to make your life better and more importantly so that we can provide you legal education so people are aware of their rights, but also how the law, with everything going on with the political climate impacts your lives and how we can improve things here. And speaking of which, I have one of my very favorite contributors and guests on Tamina Watson. She is a phenomenal immigration lawyer and expert.
She is the founder and owner of Watson Immigration Law and she is a certified, not only certified immigration lawyer, but she's also a reputable book author with her book on immigration. Tamina, I am so excited to have you. I could go on and on about you, but welcome back.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Alina. It is always so much fun to talk to you about immigration because your experience really has a direct impact on the conversation that we have that really impact the people that are listening. So I'm grateful that you, you have me on.
[00:01:37] Speaker C: And so for our audience, like this is one of the best parts is like Tamina is, I mean, renowned expert in her field. She has her podcast and she also has this incredible book. And her specialty is really in the like getting the business owners to, to, to have settled businesses here in the United States, assist with those, those visas of the professionals and the technical people. But she also knows about what the impact is on the families that we are now seeing because so many people are fearful, some with rightfully so and maybe others maybe there's a little bit of a, a breathing room, if you will. So let's just jump in because obviously we want, I, you know, me, I deal with a lot of families in my and the problem facing many, at least of family members in my clients is keeping their families together through this immigration process. I mean, we have situations where the father's a U.S. citizen, child is a U.S. citizen, mother may be deportable.
What are the most common mistakes families make when dealing with these type of immigration cases?
[00:02:56] Speaker A: It really depends on where they are in the immigration system. Have they been detained? Have they not been detained? One of the things that we are seeing, and I'm in Washington State, so one of the latest pieces of news from Yesterday is that 37 undocumented workers were detained through a workplace raid in a place called Bellingham at a roofing company. And this Is the low skilled, if you like. There's nothing low skill about the work. It's hard work for anybody who does that. You know, roofing work, construction work, you know, healthcare work, agricultural work. There's nothing low skill about it because it's hard, hard work. And so the danger that we are seeing people at the moment is really being detained. Whether they are going to the office, whether they are going to the grocery store, or dropping their child off at school. The most common issue is how are they, what do they need to know if they were to be detained. And so one of the things that is so important for everybody to know is anybody on US Soil really has the protection of the Constitution. We have a Constitution for a reason.
We have seen that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not necessarily followed all of the constitutional rights that people are entitled to, but the people should know they have rights. So what's happening with these mixed status families is that there's a lot of fear at the moment about does the child go to school or not? Because going to school could also mean that dropping your child off or picking your child up could lead to a situation where ICE could pick you up. One of the things that had happened early on in this administration is that they took away the protection of sensitive areas. So ice, the Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency, was not allowed to go into churches, schools, hospitals and courthouses. That protection has been taken away, which really means that ICE now has the ability to go to these locations. So to answer your question simply is that everybody is in fear.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: Well, and I see it like, for instance, so I still deal with not only estate planning probably, but a lot of family. I still have family, and majority of my clients are Hispanic. But in this one particular case, I was dealing with the dissolution marriage. The husband is American, US Born. The wife is a. And these are young kids, they're in the 20s, their latter 20s, but she is in her later 20s, she's undocumented. And there was an absolute fear that we had to make a safety plan what was going to occur in the event that she gets deported. And one of the things is, and I, I will give kudos to my client because he was like, I'm doing, I want to do everything I can to protect her, you know, and help her. But one of the things he said was even when they went to an immigration attorney to go, what can we do to fix her status? They said, because she had two illegal crossings, like it was noted when she was 5 and 9 years old, that, that they could not apply for her even when they were still intact marriage. And it was not a marriage or convenience or for green card. So for. For our viewers, that wasn't the case. They have a child together. He wanted his wife to have status. And to me, I'm like, okay, I remember even in the first Trump administration, like Trump said, if you give me something to to that only focuses on the dreamers, I will sign it. Give me legislation just deals with the dreamers. Those dreamers are now in their late 30s. They're starting to enter their 40s. But we have all these younger people that were young when they were crossed over. And it's like, what can we do to at least get these kids, and I call them kids or these young adults protection so that they can continue to thrive in a country that has basically been their home country for all their lives.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: I agree. And what we need is Congress to actually pass a bill that the President can sign. What happens is everything gets lost in politics. You know, when Congress is actually trying to find a bill, they then lump it in with border security or, you know, various other issues, and the ultimate result is that nothing happens. And so at this point, it's going to be important to figure out, how can we have standalone bills that the Republicans can actually champion? You know, a lot of people in the Republican Party actually do want immigration reform. How can we find those folks who will champion these issues and make sure that the people that are all but American in name, I guess they're all but American, we should be able to give them a path here. But you're totally right. And the law is very complicated. If you've had multiple entries or without status, you can have a permanent ban. Now, I do not practice removal defense in this situation. I would probably research when does unlawful presence kick in? And there is something about. There is a provision about turning 18 that unlawful presence will kick in. And so maybe you can go back and look at that for your client.
[00:08:42] Speaker C: And yeah, I provided her information, so she wasn't my client.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: So. Because I only have, you know, but I did provide to her attorney. I was like, look here. Some. I mean, unfortunately, here we do have, like the Amigo center, which is there to help individuals. Immigration. The Catholic Charities has an immigration aspect, but the Amigo center actually provides representation. I was thinking about that because obviously I was in mediation just a few days ago, and I'm like, this is ridiculous. We're still talking about the same issues we were talking about in 2009 and how to protect these kids that did not have A voice did not have a conscious intention to cross the border illegally. If you want to, you know that where was it? And I remember Trump saying give me a bill just for that sect. Give me a singular focus bill on these and I will sign it. Let's do it. I, I personally think there should be only single issue bills because it avoids a lot of the core will.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. It's, it's time, I think it's time that Congress takes action. And it's a matter of we the people and what an amazing name of your show. We the people actually make a lot more noise and make sure that our representatives take action. Ultimately we have, you know, gotten, we vote for congressional members, our senators and let's have them take action. And so make some noise. If this is an issue that matters to you to say let's, let's at least have a bill for the dreamers.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: Absolutely. And then also even for let's say the people who are here on the HB1 visas and I know you've like, you've told me all about this and I always like, that's the one I remember. But you have these high technical or these business owners that are here on a visa. What concerns do they, should they be looking at or what preventative efforts should they be making now based on the political climate of this anti immigrant feeling that we are having?
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Really good question.
For people who are on work visas, I strongly recommend that people do not travel. At the moment. I think what we are seeing is unprecedented. Visa holders are being detained at airports. Visa holders are having their visas revoked and then being sent back to their countries. It's also happening for green card holders. So I think for work visa holders, let's not travel.
The second thing I'd say is keep an eye on your visa status. If it is going to expire, apply well in advance because the goalpost of these policies are changing constantly and we are likely going to see more changes in the near future when it comes to green card holders. A lot of people who are in the waiting line to get a green card now, they might see some changes coming up. You know, the administration stopped green card processing for people who have approved asylum cases and that's a huge deal. You know, these people wait for years and years to be able to get to the point where they can file their green card applications and those final steps are being stalled. I'm afraid that that policy could be extended to different visa categories including the high skilled workers. So I want people to make sure that they're keeping abreast of the news. And if they are eligible for any type of benefit, now is the time to apply for it, not think about it twice because you don't know what the policy could be in the future.
[00:12:41] Speaker C: And it it is all done. And I do believe that regardless of where you stand on the legal battles and stuff, this is ultimately congressional. This has to be there's only so much that an executive order can do, and there is going to be checks and balances that have to happen. But it's not until our congressional members, our representatives actually do not what the party says and that's on both sides is actually doing what has common sense, which is a big thing about we the people, we want common sense. We're going to take a quick commercial break and we're going to return with Tamina and we're going to discuss the role of immigration and economic growth because not enough people are talking about the positive economic impact that immigration has on our country. Tune right back in.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: Getting back to our origin of we the people tackling current issues, both political and legal, with common sense as we the people, we must bring common sense back to make our lives, lives better. Only on NOW MEDIA tv.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: And we are back and we are joined with by Tamina Watson, immigration attorney and expert legal author as well. And we are talking now about the role of immigration and the positive economic impact it has and the growth it has for our nation.
So obviously, as we were talking before, the problem facing many in the audience is understanding how immigration affects the economy because they're hearing a lot of noise from the media. And unfortunately, that's a lot and that's very loud voices. And it often feels like a complex debate with no clear answers.
So since this is more your area of expertise, specifically, how can you express to my audience how does immigration help fuel innovation and job creation within the United States?
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, what a great question. Thank you so much, Alina. And I'm going to take them by categories, and I'll start with tourism. You know, at the moment, there's a lot of there are many countries who are putting out statements about, you know, warnings about going into the United States. There are the countries that governments are putting warnings do not go to the United States, but that is harming our tourism industry. You know, if you think about spring break coming up and how many people go to Disneyland. And if you anybody here listening, if you go to Disneyland, pay attention to the people around you. Often they're coming from different countries to visit. They are using their Hard earned money to get on a plane to come into the United States. But what happens when they are here? They're going to our restaurants, they're going to our hotels, they're using our transportation. And every one of these industries are getting financial revenue from the money that these tourists are spending. Whether they're going to Disneyland or Universal Studio or Florida, where Alina is, is a hotspot for tourism.
Just think about how much they are contributing to our economy locally. I live in Seattle, Washington. We have Pike Place Market. We have, you know, Microsoft and Amazon have their campuses that are somewhat of a tour, you know, tourist destination. We have so many things that are here. We have whale watching here, by the way, in Washington state, if you come to visit. But just realize and just visualize what is your business. Do you have a restaurant? Do you have a cafe? Who are your customers? These tourists become our customers. So we are suddenly losing a lot of funds in tourism, you know, revenue. But let's then talk about the student visas, students who come here. Our education system is such that our universities, our higher education institutions, they rely on the foreign tuition, the tuition that foreign students pay into the system that helps those institutions stay afloat.
We do not have enough American homegrown students going into the STEM fields. But so when these international students come to our country, they're actually also fueling the economy. They are spending on rent, they are buying our groceries, they are part of obviously spending at the school, they're buying textbooks. There are many stats and I don't have them at hand at the moment, but they are contributing billions of dollars to the economy.
These students who then graduate and they go into the next phase, they often, they are innovators, they are going into the workforce, they're high skilled. And you know, whether I live in Washington state, so Microsoft and Amazon roll off the tongue. But if they go to one of these big companies, they are contributing to the bottom line of American businesses. But if they are starting their own companies, often they're coming up with innovative solutions. You think about WhatsApp, you think about Zoom, you think about all of these platform platforms that we're using. Instagram founders, the founders were international high skilled folks who came to the United States. So they are the fabric of our country. But if you think about retail, Levi's jeans that we so wear with such pride. Levi's was an immigrant. You know, those who love the shop, maybe you go to Nordstrom. Nordstrom was founded by a Swedish immigrant. If you think about the various aspects of our lives that the fabric of our society, immigrants have really shaped it brick by brick. And I can go on about examples of these, but these are the types of contributions that has really made America a global superpower. And we're about to lose that with all the different policies.
[00:19:01] Speaker C: Well, it was, and maybe I haven't researched this lately or most recently, however, it was my understanding that Trump actually was a proponent of fast tracking these, these kids, these university students and stuff because one of the things he wanted to do was to promote them to stay here. Because obviously now the kids not going into STEM and all that, that goes into another topic, which is education and why STEM and basic arithmetic, things like that are not the focus, which that's total different program.
But it was my understanding that he wanted to do something that was for these kids that were doing the stem, the engineering, the computer and all that to actually have like almost a promotion for them to be able to fast track for not only visa, but residency so they can stay in the United States. So we're not investing in these kids to go back to their home countries. But it also sparks the question and I wanting to hear your opinion on this. The gold visa, the golden visa. I feel like we're like Willy Wonka, the golden ticket. I mean, Trump is like saying this golden visa where people who have a certain net worth can buy a visa.
Have you looked, have you been keeping up with that?
[00:20:24] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:20:25] Speaker C: What your opinion is on this?
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Oh, I can't wait to tell you more about that. Let me close the loop on the, on the student visa and the green card. You're totally right.
President Trump before the inauguration did say he wanted to make sure that high skilled students who are graduating from universities here get a green card. And that was received with a lot of warmth and it was welcomed. But we are almost 100 days into the presidency and we haven't seen that happen. So it's hard to know whether it was rhetoric or whether it was genuine. We'll have to wait and see. But I think we the people. Alina, I just love the name of your show. I think we should hold our, you know, leaders accountable. And if that is something that was mentioned during the campaign trail, we should hold them accountable. And I think it's important that all the stakeholders talk about it. Whether it's the universities, whether it's the industry, we all need to talk about it. But let's move on to the gold visa. You're totally right. There's a lot of interest.
But what I want your listeners to Understand is that laws have been created by Congress and only Congress can create new laws. So an executive order with a signature of pen can change policy. Policy means which direction are you going in, left or right. But that road, that's Congress. Congress has to put the concrete in and put all the things in it to make the road solid. So the direction is what can be guided, but not the law. So the gold visa. Now, funny story, I was in Mexico actually speaking at a conference and I was on stage talking about EB5 visas when somebody in the audience said, what do you think about the gold visa that was announced five minutes ago? And I'm like, oh, well, thank you for telling me. But let me tell you this. It can be a worthwhile program.
But what the announcement was, it would eliminate the current program.
And in my opinion, we should keep both programs. There's a different clientele, different candidate. The people who are investing a million dollars in their businesses are actually business people. They want to run their businesses. Those are the people who are creating jobs. They've already injected a million dollars into our economy. Let them have their green cards. It's a separate category. Why can't we have an additional category of the gold visa? But there are technical challenges. Number one, Congress has to create it. But it's not just creating a new visa category.
The United States immigration System gives out 140 green cards a year in employment based immigration.
Where are these 1,000 visas coming from? Which number is going to get affected? It needs a lot of rejigging and it gives the opportunity to actually make meaningful reform. So my hope is it's a good thing. And if it's going to go towards the deficit of the country, fantastic. But don't eliminate the EB5 as it stands. Just create a new one. But just know that Congress is the ultimate agency chamber that has to create this.
[00:23:40] Speaker C: So you're going to love this. So. And I. Well, growing up again, I'm gonna date myself growing up on Saturday morning cartoons, which I guess kids don't really do this now. There used to be the Schoolhouse Rock. And here with Gustavo, my producer, Gustavo. I'm gonna have to tell him he's gonna have to pop this one up. But there. There was a Schoolhouse Rock on I'm Just a bill. And it's about the process of how a bill becomes a walk.
And again, part of. Not part, a very big issue is, is that we are now like hamstrung by a Congress that refuses to work together.
And that is not in the best interest of we the people. It also, it lacks complete common sense. And I'm still trying to figure out what Cory Booker did other than break a record. Why There was a 25 hour and 5 minute talk when there was nothing on this floor. But it really goes back to people keep saying, like when you're looking at these visas, we have to thank you, Gustavo. We have to have Congress go and, and it shouldn't just be your congressional member from your district. Talk to the congressmen from California, Wisconsin, New York, Florida, Texas, everybody. Because yes, they represent their states like the senators or their districts, the congressional members, but they're also there to represent the United States of America and what's in the best interest. And it is not until we the people, 80% of us, the polls show that 70 to 80% of us across all political and non affiliated political lines are in favor of positive reforms for immigration. And this will allow our economy to grow, this will allow us to have our family settled and secure, but also increase the level of employability.
Kamina, I know you have to run. I want to say thank you. Thank you again for appearing. I am excited to have you back on very shortly because I think we're going to start seeing if we can get Congress to start working the way they should and not just, you know, rattle, you know, rattling their sabers. I think we could start a movement as to at least little steps one by one.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Want amen to that. Thank you so much for having me, Alina. I so appreciate the work you do and I'm grateful to have these conversations with you.
[00:26:08] Speaker C: All right, we're going to cut now and say good night and thank you again, Tamina.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:26:30] Speaker B: Getting back to our origin of we the people tackling current issues, both political and legal with common sense as we the people, we must bring common sense back to make our lives better. Only on NOW Media tv.
[00:26:47] Speaker C: Hello and welcome back to we the People.
Such a great segment with Tamina Watson and I always appreciate her vast expertise and not only immigration as it affects the economy, and her expertise in assisting these high level employees with their visas and employers hiring, but also her viewpoints in how we the people, how we all can do better, what we can do by joining our voices together and ensuring some positive movement. And I for one implore all of you talk to your congressional representatives, your senators and say let's just do one, one issue bills, forget these 1500 page bills, let's focus on one issue at a time because the reality is, is having these extreme pendulum swings that we are seeing now is not doing us any good. It is not as a country, as the, for the people, it is not doing us a good. Because what we saw in the administration of the last administration, the Biden administration, there was an extreme push towards a very progressive, very woke, very leftist ideology that was crammed down our throats and they were doing everything again through executive order to bypass the congressional legislative body. And remember, like from our last show, we have a three ring and it is a three ring circus currently, but we have three equal branches of the government that are supposed to be the checks and balances. But legislatively, Congress has the right to enact a bill, debate that bill and then either pass it or not. Just like the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon taught us when we were little.
So why am I bringing this up? Because what we're seeing is, so we were, we, we just had the pendulum way up here in the left and now it's swing so far. I don't even know if it's right anymore. But it's so far out there and it's another extremist wave. And the reality is, is that these extremes, these things like this total anti immigration thing like revoking visas and green cards and yes, Marco, I know, I know that a green card is still a permission to stay in this nation in a way because you still have to abide by the laws and stuff. And I'm not saying that people who have broken the law should not reap the accountability from that. But what I'm saying is, is we need to inject some common sense because we are right now so far extreme that our economy. Look at all these tariffs. Again, I'm not an economist.
However, I don't see why a reciprocal tariff is a bad thing. If you are, if, if American exports are being taxed at 10%, why shouldn't we be able to do the same?
But what we have is an extremism that's taken over. So what it is is that you have this small little minority, small minority making all of the decisions.
And yes, I will give it up to Trump that he did create a movement. But that movement alone was not what won him the election. It was his ability to build a coalition so that independents and Republicans that were somewhat on the fence and also those Democrats that felt disenfranchised came and were able to vote for him. And it is up to him to continue that collaboration in that coalition.
So these extremes are hurting us. They are not helping us. Because the bottom line is, unless you have a successor that wins the presidency, that you know, sorry, Donald, you're not getting a third term. It has already been set. He has termed, he's terming out, this is a second term. So unless the Republicans win the seat, the White House again, the presidency again, and that president is also in lockstead with what Trump has created and continues this extremism, it's still going to shift. I mean, we saw that, we saw that when Biden came into the administration, when he won the presidency and got into the White House, he was revoking everything Trump did by. And then he was going with his own executive orders. And then what happened, the pendulum swung over here and Trump is, you know, voiding out everything Biden did. We can't have this. We need common sense.
And when I see this, when I see these extremes, this isn't representative of the entire United States of America. Because the reality is, is that the vast majority of us are somewhere comfortably in this center right and not dead center, but we'll swing a little left, we'll swing a right. But ultimately what we want is what is best for our families, our communities and our country and how to thrive, how to be stable. I mean, it is enough with the whole. I was at an event, I was actually at a kickoff for Byron Donald for Florida State governor and it was his kickoff to his campaign and there were people protesting and it was across the street. And personally I wanted to go across the street and tell them like maybe they should focus on one or two issues, maybe three, because their messaging was all over. But you know, one lady, I caught her eyes, she caught my eye and was very pleasant. Afterwards I saw her and we talked a bit. And that's what that, that is how we're supposed to be. We don't hate our neighbors, we shouldn't hate our neighbors because they are of an different party.
And I love seeing what is happening in some non mainstream media.
So I have stated before, I am a fan of News Nation. And the reason why I'm a fan of News Nation is because they seem to bring voices from different sides. I mean, you have Bill O'Reilly, Chris Cuomo, Geraldo Rivera, even though sometimes I tend to yell at the TV when he's on, but that's me.
I like the fact that they bring in these voices. And I think that's what we need more of because so often, especially with the Legacy Media, the MSNBC's, the CNN, Dane, Fox News and News Nation, it's siloed. They're speaking to their base. And what we need to do is figure out how to get out of this extremism, this fear mongering, this, this expansion into somewhat crazyville on both sides. I have criticized the heck out of what was going on in the administration last time, and I will criticize if I see things that are so extreme and not what is in what makes common sense. But the bottom line is we have to have the legislature step up. And part of what we are seeing, the issue we have been seeing now for nearly 20 years, is a legislature that seems to think it's more important to win for the sake of winning because of the party or the position than actually working together.
And that's not what it was about. We're supposed to be working together. We're supposed to have collaborative efforts made for the best interest of the United States of America, for the best interest of the citizens, not just one party or one viewpoint. And you may be asking, well, Alina, why are you going off on this extremist? Because it. I had hope, I had hope that with the introduction and the joining of Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Having, you know, Elon Musk, who was a registered Democrat, and I will talk about Musk and his impersonation of the Koch brothers basically, and throwing money at elections, but it's time for us to stop doing so. Extremes. We need to come back to a common sense type of governance and leadership. And it's not shoving things down our throats because we the people are the ones who are going to ultimately pay for it. We the people are the ones who are standing here scratching our heads, going, okay, our gases are going. Gas is going up. Our prices at the grocery stores are going up. We have the government, you know, senators going on and on for 25 plus hours so he can break a record over what? It wasn't even a filibuster.
Was not even a filibuster because there was no bill. Because, hey, do your damn job, create a bill, make it single, go in there, actually build a collaboration. Because we the people will find more in common. 70% of the people, plus 70% plus have stated we want secured burgers. We are now getting that. We do not need for there to be this visceral hate among conservatives and liberals. Because the reality is, is even in your family, I know in my family, I got staunch red, I got staunch blue. And guess what, we could still come together as a family and say, you know what, that's interesting. Or we basically say, you know what? This is, we are not going to agree on this. And rather get into a heated discussion or argument, let's just agree to disagree and separate and not discuss this topic.
And it happens, it even happens. Like say I am coral and I have my father who is deep maroon red. There are times where I'll look at him, I'm like, you know what, I love you, Bobby, but this is something that we are, it's best that we not talk about this anymore and just agree to disagree or agree that you have your stance, which I respect and you have, I have my stance which you respect. And that's what how it goes. Because as an attorney, I can tell you I have gone into mediations where parents are so far apart or spouses and it's going to be like it's their way or the highway. And that's not how it is because I'm going to tell you right now, nobody wins 100% of the time. You have to come together. And when it comes to our Congress, when it comes to our White House, we need them to start working together. And surprisingly, surprisingly, you will find if you sit down, sit down at the table and go, okay, where, let's start on where can we agree? And then little by little, little by little, you will see that there's more things in common than there are part. And then, okay, let's see how we can collaborate. I'm going to talk about more of this in our next segment and we're going to cut for a quick break. But I want you to think about that when you look at your neighbor who may be a Democrat or your neighbor who may have that maga hat, think about, you know what, what do we have in common?
What is it that we have alike and how can we demand more of our so called leaders to start thinking about the commonality and how we can work together. We're going to take a quick break and we're going to discuss how we have great examples of people coming together.
[00:39:25] Speaker B: Getting back to our origins of we the people, tackling current issues, both political and legal, with common sense as we the people. We must bring common sense back to make our lives better. Only on NOW Media tv.
[00:39:43] Speaker C: Okay, welcome back. So we were talking about the pendulum swings and how there is a need for a coming together. There is a need for dialogue on both sides and you're not, at least when the politicians are posturing, you'll see that they're not.
And here's the thing, we've seen examples of two opposing sides, two individuals that would be like who, okay, let's Chris Cuomo, Tucker Carlson. I still remember the first time that they did a podcast or an interview together. And I watched it and I loved it because, like, Chris even like chided Tucker Carlson because when Tucker was at Fox and Chris Cuomo was at cnn, they were throwing bars at each other. And Tucker was much better at the, at being, as he put it, a d, you know, what the word is, you know, at Chris. But they did sit down together and with that, with that they have a discussion as to what is what politically, what is going on and let's talk about our positions, you know, and how, yeah, we may differ and agree to disagree. But then they were able to discuss things that they actually were like, you know what, you have a good point. And there's another good point. They were a great example. And I was so, not that they need my kudos and proud, but I was like, yes, I love this because here you have two men that were in journalism that were or are representative probably of two divergent ideologies, politically wise were able to come together. And they didn't just do it the first time, they did it a second time recently, last month, March. And again, it was one entertaining, hugely entertaining. So I'm giving props to those two. But also the fact that they are so extremely knowledgeable and were able to discuss these issues and joke around at the same time shows you that there, there was a forming of a camaraderie. There is a, I don't know if they're best friends, but I would say it looked like they were. There was a friendship that budded that never would have occurred if they did not sit together. And then let's go to another great example of two opposites. I mean, we're talking opposites. And Kid Rock came on Bill Maher's show.
For those of you know, Bill Maher, long time liberal, I mean, he states he even still, even though he wasn't really gung ho about Kamala Harris's campaign, Bill Maher went and, and invited Kid Rock. Kid Rock, who is a friend of Donald Trump's, a big proponent of MAGA and stuff, invited Kid Rock to appear on his show. And they had an amazing dialogue and it was funny and comical. And honestly, I was super impressed with Kid Rock because you only think of him as the rocker, you know, and his ability to say this. But then Kid Rock basically was like, you know what, Bill? You need to come to the White House. You need to meet Donald Trump personally and sit down with them. And it happened. And Kid Rock even said that Bill's like, are you sure about this? Because you know, Bill Maher attack the would go out and on the attack and in his comedy routines but also say all these things about Trump and Trump. I mean apparently Bill Maher made a list of all of the insults and the attacks that Trump did on Bill Maher and Kid Ross. Like no, we started this conversation. We opened a conversation. Let's continue this. I'm calling up my man Trump and I'm having you invited to the, to the White House so you two can sit together.
And it happened. And Kid Rock, you know, later stated that it was amazing because Here you have two men that @ least in the media portrayal were complete opposites. Come. I mean we're talking Kid Rock Fillmore, we're talking Bill Farr and Donald Trump. And he said it was a beautiful thing because as Kid Rock stated, and I'm paraphrasing, at some point you have to put aside your political affiliation and the R, the D, the MAGA and the WOKE or whatever it is that you affiliate sit down at a table and talk about what do we have in common?
Now Bill Maher has been canceled by many people or attempted to be canceled by many people and has had a lot of stones cast at his at hit in his way directed to him because of his vocalization of his anti woke thing. His vocalization saying that the trans transing children and everything was wrong or and his vocalization that yes, we have to have a strong border.
So there has been some opening there because Bill Maher has been very vocal. I mean Bill Maher was just recently interviewed on Gavin Newsom, Governor of California's podcast and about how he has dealt with a lot of flak and he's going to have a lot more flack by visiting Trump and having dinner with Trump. And that dinner was Bill, President Trump, Kid Rock and the United, the UFC guy, I can't remember his name, sorry, I'm not a UFC fan. But, but you know, it. There's something to be, that's something to be hold to. Like look at how you have people who have thrown barbs at each other and I mean nasty ass barbs too, sitting down together or Bill basically calling out Gavin going well I see that you're coming out to more to the middle or at least Gavin, whether it's his positioning, trying to say look, I'm more of a moderate and because he has eye on the prize for 2028 or is Gavin Newsom really being honest and genuine and that he's saying we need to bring People from opposing views and to open the dialogue because we have so much more in common, or as we saw from this last election, that the people want us to come together. And so I'm going to tell you, Gavin's podcast, I'm enjoying this gap. Gavin's very articulate. He is well spoken. Now, he has huge hurdles, which Belle pointed out, like, hey, you know, you can't say that you're here for common sense or in the middle wing you, you know, signed into legislation, into law where kids can be removed from parents that they say they're trans and their parents don't know about it, or their parents may want to seek therapy before saying, yes, you can go through these medical procedures. So Gavin also has a lot to explain because he was, I mean, let's face it, he, he was the face of the woke administration for California and how things were going. And now he's doing this. But, but to Gavin Newsom's credit, he keeps saying, it is so vital for us as a country to sit down and realize that the Democratic Party has been so far off the mark. And much of that mark is because they have stopped listening to the common person and they're only listening to an extremist. And that's where we have to be vigilant because we the people. And I'm talking to you, the 70 percenters, the 80 percenters that are looking around going, what the hell? We are not way over here. And we're not way over here. We're here. We want people to come together and talk about the commonality. And I do find hope that we are now seeing on both sides of the aisle, at least in the media, at least in, hey, even President Trump welcoming people from the opposing side, saying, you know what, let's have a dinner together, let's have a coffee. Yes, it may be all off record, but let's talk about what we have in common. And then on these major issues that we seem to be so lockstead, like two brands battling, like we're against, okay, let's break down those issues because you do have this gargantuan issue that you can be totally opposite. But if you break it down, you may be surprised to see how much we do have in agreeance, in agreement, and how much we have in common and where we can build on that and then go, okay, little by little, okay, here we are. Until then, we're like, okay, here are the few issues where we're so far apart, but we have all of this in common. And how can we make this come together. That was what was so remarkable about Congress in the 80s, the 90s. It was. It was remarkable. Look at, look at the administration for Bill Clinton.
I say all the time. I always look to Bill. I look to Ronald Reagan, too. Those are really the ones. Ronald Reagan. I was little George Herbert Walker Bush, president. He was known as the true moderate president. He probably was because of his experience, both not only as a military veteran and director, CIA, but he knew the importance of working together. But Bill Clinton, when he went first into the administration, he was all about his position and stuff. And he quickly learned, once the midterm came and the Republicans won the House, first time in 30 years, that time, that he was going to have to work with Newton and he would have to build collaborations. And, you know, what he ended up doing was probably one of the most amazing presidential administrations. He worked with the opposing side, he built collaborations, he built relationships. He was able to streamline our federal government. Remember, he had massive layoffs. He was redoing all types of contracts, much like what Doge is trying to do now in the Trump administration because of the deficit that we're doing. And he created a surplus, a surplus government that was paying down the deficit. We are a nation looking at $36 trillion in deficit. We need to get our act together, because if not, we're going to go bankrupt in what we know as the United States. America will be no more. And that will be on our children, our grandchildren.
So I leave you with that. How can we build bridges? How can we talk about commonality and bring consensus and common sense back to how our nation is run? Our states are run for the betterment of our children, our communities and the nation as a whole. And then eventually, the globe. I am Alina Gonzalez Ducker. Thank you so much for appearing yet or for coming and joining me for another episode of we the People. I love coming here, being able to discuss these issues, but also to be representative of what is the greatest part of this nation. And it is you, the people.
I bid you a good night and a wonderful weekend, and I will see you on our next show.
[00:52:25] Speaker A: This has been a NOW Media Networks feature presentation. All rights reserved.
