By In a rare return to daytime television, Arnold Schwarzenegger—immigrant, actor, and former California governor—used his platform on “The View” to deliver a characteristically blunt message: immigration is a privilege, not a free-for-all, and with opportunity comes responsibility.
His remarks came after host Joy Behar tried to get The Terminator star to attack Trump over deportations by asking, ‘You are an immigrant yourself – an immigrant of the country,’ Behar began. “Did you have a visceral reaction to what they’re doing – what ICE is doing [in LA]?”
Yet for Schwarzenegger, the American immigration story is not defined by spectacle or outrage. It is personal. “I’m so, so happy to see first-hand that this IS the greatest country in the world and it IS the land of opportunity,” he declared, reflecting on his journey from Austrian farm boy to global icon. Arriving in the U.S. at 21, the future governor became a citizen by choice—and, he emphasized, through legal means.
Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't take the bait when The View's Joy Behar asks him about the ICE raids in California:
"I'm so, so happy to see first-hand that this IS the greatest country in the world and it IS the land of opportunity…
…When you come to America, you're a guest.… pic.twitter.com/4FKa47Q6KM
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 17, 2025
Prompted by questions about the raids and the uproar they ignited, Schwarzenegger offered a pointed rejoinder to what he sees as a growing culture of entitlement. “When you come to America, you’re a guest. And you have to behave like a guest,” he said. “You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America.” Far from echoing partisan talking points, his message cut through the binary: both sympathetic and firm, celebratory yet exacting.
At points during his explanation, cohost Sunny Hostin physically attempted to stop the Republican from continuing.
That tone—equal parts gratitude and demand—stood out amid a national discourse more often shaped by ideological trench warfare over the topic of immigration to the United States. While progressive voices denounce ICE as oppressive and some on the right champion ever-stricter enforcement, Schwarzenegger seemed to offer a third path: respect for America’s legal process and a call to contribute, not just arrive.
The former governor also urged that “Democrats and Republicans have to come together to solve this issue if they really want to be public servants,” and lamented those that “want to be party servants and be party hacks and be tied to their ideology,” telling the cohosts that progress “won’t happen” on the issue as long as those things remain.
“But it you want to make this country better and improve this country and the situation of people’s lives and bring the prices down, you will go and serve the people of America,” he continued. “You’re a public servant, that’s what you’re supposed to do, and that’s what I would do if I was governor.”
Schwarzenegger also discussed being asked to give the keynote speech at Mount Vernon on July 4th to “celebrate the 250th anniversary of America,” noted Townhall. There will be over 7,000 people at the event, as well as some who will be sworn in as American citizens during the event, according to Schwarzenegger.
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