Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals how he’d handle California ICE crisis if still governor

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed on The View how he’d handle the ongoing ICE deportation crisis in Los Angeles if he was still in political power.

The 77-year-old actor and former politician stopped by the talk show Tuesday to promote season 2 of his Netflix action series FUBAR, but before that, conservative panelist Alyssa Farah Griffin inquired about his thoughts on in the state he governed from 2003 to 2011 as a Republican.

“I think most important thing is, if you’re in a leadership position like that, is that you’re inclusive and that you work together with everybody,” Schwarzenegger said. “And so it means that you have to work together with local government the state government and the federal government. You have to work together rather than fighting each other.”

The Terminator actor said that fighting serves no one, and urged current leaders to
“create immigration reform because all of this is happening because we don’t have immigration reform” perfected yet.

“For decades now, this country has needed immigration reform, which means we recognize the fact there’s people in the south of America that want to come north to work, and we should supply them with enough visas to come because we need those workers,” he observed. “Then we’d know who is here, we’d be able to get rid of the criminal elements that are here, all this stuff so we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in right now.”

He urged that “Democrats and Republicans have to come together to solve this issue if they really want to be public servants,” and lamented those that “want to be party servants and be party hacks and be tied to their ideology,” telling the cohosts that progress “won’t happen” on the issue as long as those things remain.

“But it you want to make this country better and improve this country and the situation of people’s lives and bring the prices down, you will go and serve the people of America,” he continued. “You’re a public servant, that’s what you’re supposed to do, and that’s what I would do if I was governor.”

Later in the interview, Schwarzenegger, who’s from Austria, still reminded immigrants that “you’ve got to do things legally” to enter the United States.

“Those people that are doing illegal things in America and that are foreigners, they are not smart, because when you come to America, you’re a guest, and you have to behave like a guest,” he explained. “When I go to someone’s house and I’m a guest, I’ll do everything I can to keep things clean and to make my bed and do everything that’s the right thing to do rather than committing a crime or being abusive or something like that, so that doesn’t really work in this country.

He also said that when immigrants come to America, they want to “use America for the great opportunities America has in education, jobs, creating a family,” but that they also have a responsibility to “give something back” and “do something for the community” in return.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg and Schwarzenegger’s longtime friend lightly pushed back, reminding him that “90 percent of the people who come here are trying to do the right thing and a lot of what’s happening right now is people are getting snatched — who shouldn’t be snatched — out of the country,” while Sunny Hostin chimed in to advise Schwarzenegger that “immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes in this country than American-born citizens.”

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President Donald Trump’s ongoing ICE deportation initiatives have sparked fierce debate and protests across the country. Project Runway alum Arthur Folasa Ah Loo was shot at one of the “No Kings” protests against Trump in Utah over the weekend, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.