Stephen A. Smith says the Democratic Party’s approach to immigration has become a major political problem and argues that policies favoring open or loosely controlled borders ultimately weaken the influence of Black voters.

Smith said immigration should be a much higher priority for Democrats and framed the issue as one that directly affects the political power of Black Americans.

"You know the biggest problem with the Democrats is right now, immigration isn't even on your list of priorities."

He then explained why he believes that lack of urgency matters.

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"And why is that a problem? Because, ladies and gentlemen, I want to state for the record what I firmly believe: when you want to open our borders, or when you don't mind per se our borders being flooded, I want to state for the record that I think that it's a direct assault against black voters."

Smith argued that a sustained influx of migrants can eventually alter the political calculations of the Democratic Party by creating a larger pool of potential future voters.

His concern, he said, is that the more Democrats depend on migrant communities politically, the less incentive they have to prioritize Black voters who have historically formed a key part of the party’s coalition.

Smith made clear that he does not support indiscriminate deportations.

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He pointed to former President Barack Obama’s immigration enforcement record as an example of the approach he prefers.

"I'm of the Obama variety. He deported 3.1 million people. He was called the deporter in chief, but essentially, what he did was focused on criminals and people with salacious or unsavory behaviors, and those were the people that he was deported."

Smith said his position is not that every migrant should be removed from the country.

"I don't want anybody and just anybody being deported."

He said people who obey the law, pay taxes, and contribute to American society should be able to remain.

"Personally speaking, if you're a law-abiding citizen paying your taxes and contributing to our society, I hope folks stay here. Migrants stay here, which can't let everybody in, and you certainly can't have open borders."

His broader argument centered on the sustainability of immigration policy and the political consequences of allowing large numbers of migrants to enter the country.

Smith said the United States cannot simply allow unrestricted entry, regardless of how sympathetic policymakers may be toward individual migrants.

He then returned to the political impact, arguing that some on the left may be comfortable with large-scale immigration because it changes the composition of the electorate over time.

"And I believe that when you have a situation where you have some folks on the left who don't mind that at all, what they're really, really saying is, we want to dilute the potency of the black vote because the more migrants that cross the border, and the more of that base you secure as a voting base, the less you need black people, I don't like that."

Stephen A. Smith says he takes Democrats’ open borders as a DIRECT ASSAULT on black people, and he’s done being okay with it.

This is not a Trump supporter. This is a Kamala Harris voter. SMITH: “You know what the biggest problem with the Democrats is right now? Immigration isn’t even on your list of priorities.” “And why is that a problem? Because, ladies and gentlemen... When you want to open our borders, or when you don’t mind, per se, our borders being flooded, I want to state for the record that I think that it’s a DIRECT ASSAULT against black voters.” “And I believe that when you have a situation where you have some folks on the left who don’t mind [open borders] at all, what they’re really saying is, we want to dilute the potency of the black vote, because the MORE migrants that cross the border, and the MORE of that base you secure as a voting base, the less you need black people!” “I DON’T LIKE THAT!” Stephen A. Smith is finally waking up. Democrats don’t want open borders out of compassion. They want to flood in votes and turn all of America into a one-party state like California. As @elonmusk once said: “Dems won’t deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point.” — The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) October 30, 2026