Mexican-American Educates Don Lemon: 'Crossing the Border Illegally is a CRIME!'

Screenshot/YouTube

Ex-CNN host Don Lemon took to the streets of Chicago to find out what everyday people thought about America's illegal immigration problem.

One woman he talked to was a legal immigrant to the U.S. from Mexico. Lemon insisted that crossing the border illegally really wasn't a crime.

The woman disagreed.

Fiercely.

The exchange featured on Don Lemon's YouTube showed the host telling the woman that “it’s not a crime” to enter the U.S. illegally.

“Crossing the border illegally is not a crime?” the woman asked him.

Lemon replied, “No, it’s not a criminal act! It’s a misdemeanor."

He added, “That’s the point, we don’t know if they’re breaking the law because (ICE and Border Patrol) won’t tell. There’s no due process. Where’s the evidence? That’s the whole point.”

She wasn't having it.

“Then why get charged at all then, if it’s not a criminal act?” the woman asked him.

“Because we have different levels of crime, everything is not the same,” Lemon responded

“So it is a crime? It’s just different level?...” she asked.

Lemon said, “No, I shouldn’t say different levels, it’s not a crime. You’re not breaking the law. I mean, you are breaking the law, but it’s not a criminal act."

She said, "Laws are being broken right and people are not being accountable! It starts growing until it gets to a place you can't live or be safe!"

The woman continued, describing how illegal migrants are treated in her former country, "In Mexico they are doing mass deportations using force. Nothing like here. They aren't pulling you over, 'Let me see if you're legal.' No, they beat you up and question you later!"

Lemon said, "We're there! That's happening!"

She replied quickly, "Not even close... crossing the border illegally is a crime. You don't see it that way, but I do."

A man who was with the woman interrupted and asked Lemon if drinking and driving or speeding was “breaking the law.”

This man and the woman he was with were clearly challenging Lemon on if illegally crossing the border was criminal or not.

Lemon dismissed the man, saying that the argument had now come down to mere “semantics.”

Sure, Don.

Earlier in the interview, the woman said she had legally moved from Mexico to the U.S. from Mexico legally and was currently living in Kansas City.

She said she was pro-immigration and that when it comes to enforcing the law, “It’s not about hating people, myself as an immigrant." No it's about "doing things the right way."

This woman is absolutely right. She also likely has the experience and knowledge to speak on this issue more than most.

Hopefully, Don Lemon learned something.

But probably not.