Despite the infamous behavior of the Fox News Channel, which includes airing frequently harsh criticisms of the idea of immigration reform, including advocating for stricter enforcement and describing as “amnesty” the idea of offering a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, Senator Lindsey Graham believes that a new biography of Roger Ailes, the chief executive officer of Fox News, unfairly paints him as being against immigration.
Graham, a member of the Gang of Eight senators that crafted the comprehensive immigration reform bill that was passed by the Senate last year, only to then stall in the House of Representatives, has given an interview in which he states that Ailes is actually a supporter of immigration reform, including the idea of offering undocumented immigrants a path to US citizenship.
Graham is basing his defense of Ailes on the various meetings that the two have had since the debate over immigration reform began. Gabriel Sherman’s new book, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News and Divided a Country, quotes Ailes as being aggressively against the idea of immigration reform in a number of excerpts.
The book says that Ailes believes that border security should be the top priority, with Navy SEALS to be deployed on the dividing line between the United States and Mexico in order to prevent drug dealers from entering the country. However, Ailes is also quoted as describing as “reactionary” the views of many conservatives on immigration and Graham says the book is unfair.