Jeff Ross Roasts the Border: Live from Brownsville, Texas

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1

Ross:
Look at this

beautiful crowd.

Come up here, dude.

Come up here.

Look at this guy.

What's your name? What's that?

Herman. And...

What?

Just call you "eggnog?"

What do you do?

I landscape. Landscape.

I could've guessed

that in one guess.

You're a legal citizen?

I'm an alien. You're an alien?

I got a Social Security though.

You can check.

I'm not going to check.

It's okay.

You're in a safe

space right now.

Are your parents

in this country?

Yeah. One.

One is, and the other one?

They threw one back.

They threw one back.

That would be such a tricky

way to grow up, right,

where you're legal

but your parents

are undocumented?

That's a lot of leverage

to have on your parents.

"Hey, clean up your room."

"Really, Mom?"

"Let me call ICE,

see if they want

to clean up your room."

"What time is my curfew, Dad?"

"Well, you might not be

coming home tonight, so."

Hola. Me llamoJeff Ross.

And like most Americans, I'm

a descendant of immigrants.

My grandparents' grandparents

escaped from Eastern Europe

in search of a better

life and perfect posture.

Their daughter,

my great-grandma Rosie,

went on to embrace

the American dream.

After playing four seasons

with the New York Giants,

she built herself a successful

catering business

in Newark, New Jersey.

From there, our family

grew into a motley

melting pot of religions

and nationalities

that now includes a crazy

Israeli and two Chinese cousins

that are smarter than me

and can kick my ass.

And it's not just my family.

Since this country got rolling,

people from all over the world

have fled their homelands

to come to the greatest

country on Earth.

I mean, can you see

how happy they are?

USA! USA!

Ever since I was a kid,

leaders on all sides

have stood up for immigrants.

Rather than talking

about putting up a fence,

why don't we make it

possible for them

to come here legally

with a work permit,

and then while they're

working and earning here,

they pay taxes here?

And when they want to go

back, they can go back,

and they can cross, and open

the border both ways.

These are good people,

strong people.

Part of my family is Mexican.

Ross:
Things are different now.

Suddenly, America

is like a snobby club

with a douchey doorman.

But for me, this issue

isn't about politics.

It's about people, lots

and lots of people.

No ban, no walls!

No ban, no walls!

Here I am in Texas, rally

in the state capital.

One of many happening

all over the country right now.

No ban, no wall.

For many, the stakes

couldn't be higher.

My fiance is from Mexico,

and he's actually undocumented,

and with all this ICE

raids and everything,

he's afraid to go out because...

Must be scary. Very scary.

I'm the son of Mexican

and Columbian immigrants,

and I'm proud.

I feel you, bro.

"Palestinian, Mexican,

Muslim and a woman."

Man.

You can probably get

deported and locked up

for three different

reasons right now.

What do you each for lunch,

like quesadillas with hummus?

Not only was this nation built

by immigrants, it still is.

Are you a real

construction worker?

Real construction.

All the building, and last

year, we do all the window.

Wow. Right here at the capital?

Yes, sir.

Well, it's a beautiful building

with beautiful windows.

Thank you. Yeah.

And thank you, all United States

for bringing little jobs for us.

Yeah. Of course, man.

I'm very appreciative.

Immigrants make America great.

I agree, man.

Yeah. Yeah.

A couple of Mexican

guys like you and me

are making this country great.

All right. Gracias.

With some people calling

for a Muslim ban,

even our freedom

of religion is at risk.

You're wearing

your uniform today.

To show people that the way

that Muslims are being treated,

getting detained at the airport,

and almost being outright

banned is just unacceptable.

You know, we need

to come out and show

our fellow Americans

who were are.

Of course. Right.

In any other context, people

would be saluting you,

and here, it's, like,

you might as well

be getting the middle

finger from the government.

What the hell is going on?

Why is a nation of newcomers

suddenly turning its

back on itself?

I wanted to understand

more, so I headed down

to the frontline

of the immigration battle,

to a sweaty little border

town called Brownsville,

at the southern tip of Texas.

And as we all know, the tip

is always the most sensitive,

so the people who live

here are getting hit hard

by America's changing policies.

Who lives here? Is it mostly

Mexican-American people?

Mexican and Mexican-American

people is 95 percent of us,

but at the end of the day,

we're all Texan.

Many of these folks have

family and friends living

and working on both sides

of the border,

creating one big community

of "murderers, rapists

and some, I assume,

are good people."

That's the Rio Grande.

That's Mexico.

You could throw a rock

across right here.

I'm just walking

along the border

and finding kids' clothes,

womens' clothes, more

shoes, shoes, shoes.

I don't think that's a drug

dealer or a terrorist

coming over right there.

Raids and detentions

are at an all-time high.

Plus, el Presidente's

constant threats

of mass deportations,

including young

DREAMers who were

raised and educated here,

and of course, the building

of an even bigger barrier

has put stress on the hearts

of all the people

who aren't hot enough to get

into America on a modeling visa.

So I started asking,

"How do the people

who actually live on the border

feel about all this?"

Do they want

an even bigger wall?

And if I did a free

show at a public park,

right in front of the existing

fence, will the locals show up,

or would many be too

scared to come out

for fear of being rounded

up -- or roasted.

Because for many, this

issue is no joke.

More people cross over illegally

here than anywhere else

along America's 2,000-mile

border.

So our government

built this fence

through Brownsville a decade ago

to keep the strangers out.

It hasn't worked.

They still come...

Man:
Three-oh-four, go ahead.

Man:
I have two individuals

walking up to me.

Ross:
...any way they can.

Man:
They probably

rafted them across.

Yeah.

Ross:
As we waited

for Border Patrol,

the constables helped me

use my broken Spanish

to welcome two people

into the country.

Get your filming

now because when

we call Border Patrol,

we put the cameras down.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Hey, bud.Hola.

They're from El Salvador.

From El Salvador? Yes.

They're going to New York.

I'm going to New York.

They're going to go

see Donald Trump.

This your son?

Yes. Yeah, see?

Hola, buddy. Hola.

Me llamoJeff.

Just crossed a minute ago.

They split the children up,

that way there's no

immediate deportation.

Smart. Yeah.

How do you feel?

Are you nervous? What

are you feeling?

[ Interpreting in Spanish ]

What's the violence

like in your home?

[ Interpreting in Spanish ]

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