CNN Host Intervenes as Heated On-Air Clash Boils Over

CNN host Abby Phillip was forced to break up a war of words between two of her NewsNight panelists.

Read more Comey’s ‘86 47′ Trump Seashell Case Gets Even Weirder

On Tuesday evening’s show, Market Rebellion CEO Marc LoPresti and former Democratic Texas congressional candidate Isaiah Martin locked horns over former president Joe Biden’s so-called open border policy.

“Officials can now refer asylum seekers to immigration judges without a formal interview. It’s a change that could affect more than 450,000 cases, and it effectively bypasses a step in the asylum process,” Phillip said, introducing the story.

The U.S. government has issued a level four travel advisory for Haiti, meaning that Americans are strongly discouraged from visiting due to high crime and major safety risks.

The Supreme Court ruling, however, means that nearly half a million people are bracing themselves for an uncertain future that could see them returned to Haiti.

“I think the issue, Abby, is that the scope of the problem with Biden’s open border policies, we did allow a lot of people that should not be here in an unprecedented scale to come into this country,” LoPresti said. “What happens is when the pendulum swings in either direction, Abby, too far, the response is often commensurately too far.”

Martin challenged him. “What is that open border policy?” he said. “Can you define what that means?”

LoPresti pushed back with generic conservative talking points about murders and “letting people flow over the border” as Martin pressed the issue.

“I’m asking you: what is the open border policy? Can you define what that is? What is the policy?” he asked. “How did they ‘let’? There were still immigration officers. What are you talking about?! Define the policy.”

LoPresti then claimed that border officers were instructed to let people in, but Martin gave him little breathing room.

Read more Putin Hit With Big Setback After U.S. Makes Major Move

“Define the policy though,” he continued, as crosstalk began to erupt. “Are you saying that immigration officers weren’t there along the southern border during the time that Biden was in office?”

“Hold on,” Phillip waded in. “I think we’re getting—we’re mixing a bunch of different issues at the same time, right? Because what we’re talking about today are specific groups of people: TPS holders are people who are here because they are fleeing a terrible situation in their home countries.

“Now, as we pointed out, the United States has a level four travel advisory for Haiti. We are telling Americans ‘don’t go there because of the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited healthcare.’

“In the midst of that, the Trump administration has revoked status for TPS holders basically overnight, made those people ineligible to work, essentially made them illegal in this country, and is now saying, you got to go back to that country that you were fleeing from, even though the situation has not changed. So that is what we’re talking about.”

TPS was introduced for Haitians after the 2010 earthquake in the Caribbean nation, and afterward it was deemed too dangerous to send people back.

In the 16 years since, Haiti has been ravaged by gang violence and food insecurity, with the capital and key transport routes largely under the control of armed groups, with millions facing hunger and displacement.

In a report in January, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Violence has intensified and expanded geographically, exacerbating food insecurity and instability, as transitional governance arrangements near expiry and overdue elections remain urgent.”

The U.N. said in January that 5.7 million people were facing food insecurity, 1.4 million had been displaced and large parts of the healthcare system were barely functioning.