Fox News host Shepard Smith got choked up on Wednesday when talking about the deaths of migrants trying to get into the United States across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Smith said the United States has always welcomed those seeking asylum here, and that the country should continue to embrace that idea.
"If you want to come be a part of this grand experiment, we want you here. When did we change that?" Smith said. He continued talking about the situation with no interruptions.
"The process of presenting yourself has changed. The process now is lists are kept haphazardly. There aren't official lists in many cases.
"People are just told it's going to be a long time, at which point they go to migrant camps where the temperatures are over 100 degrees. There is not adequate anything for anyone and hope they will be pushed back to wherever they came from. That was probably the hope. They're not going back because it is horrendous where they came from.
"Through the history of this nation, we have said give us your tired, your poor and your huddled masses," Smith continued. "That is what we said as a society to people who were in a position where they cannot, or their children cannot, properly survive."
His comments follow the news of a man and his daughter who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande.
Before Smith issued his dialogue, he talked about the photo of the drowned man and child washed up on the banks of the river.
"It's been a while since I've seen such an image, so explode in the national discussion — social media and otherwise — including these [2020 candidates]," Smith said.
Smith said since the birth of America, the country has always found ways to accept others, and that having a diverse population is what made the country "better."
"We have always since the dawn of this nation said 'come, we'll figure this out'," Smith said while appearing to hold in tears. "Since the dawn of this nation every time those communities have come here, they have made America better.
"We've always said yes," Smith said. "We have said if you're — if your heart is in the right place and your idea is in the right place and you want to come be a part of this grand experiment, we want you here. When did we change that, and how do we get the previous way back?" Smith asked.
Immigration has become one of the nation's top conversations, whether it's the mass amount of 2020 presidential candidates, newcomers in Congress, state governments along the Mexican border and even employees of a business walking out on Wednesday after learning they were building furniture for migrant detention centers.
The U.S. government apprehended more than 350,000 illegal immigrants from the beginning of March through the end of May, and the number of June could reach 150,000 apprehensions.
