Charles Barkley had more than basketball on his mind during CBS’ March Madness broadcast on Sunday.
The analyst pivoted to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown after a feature on University of Connecticut star Alex Karaban, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Eastern Europe.
“I want to be very careful with my words right now. Because this is a really touchy subject for me,” Barkley said. “I love that kid and his family, but the way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace.
“I think there’s a difference between amazing immigrants and criminal immigrants, and I think what’s going on in our country — what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants ― is really unfortunate and it’s really sad.”
He continued, “And that’s a great immigrant story — we have a lot of great immigrant stories out there, whose stories need to be told. But some of the stuff that’s happening to immigrants in our country right now is really unfortunate and is really unfair. But immigrants built this country, and we should admire them and respect them.”
