From Corrupt Nations to U.S. Neighborhoods Biden Let Them In

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: From Corrupt Nations to U.S. Neighborhoods Biden Let Them In
Date: February 17, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)

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Overview

This episode of "The 47 Morning Update" dives into the recent findings regarding U.S. immigration policies under the Biden administration—specifically the decision to grant visas to migrants from what are described as the most corrupt countries in the world. Host Ben Ferguson outlines the risks, politics, and consequences of these policies, contrasting them with the Trump administration's stricter immigration stance. He also highlights recent comments by Democratic leaders, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Gavin Newsom, on the issue of border security and enforcement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. U.S. Immigration from "Corrupt Nations"

• Contrast with Trump Policies:
  • Ferguson asserts that, prior to Trump’s return to office, the U.S. routinely allowed migrants from highly corrupt countries to enter without "legitimate vetting" ([04:00]).
  • He credits Trump with issuing executive orders to halt or limit such immigration, arguing this was necessary for U.S. safety.
• Recent Analysis Findings:
  • Ferguson cites a Center for Immigration Studies analysis, referencing Transparency International’s rankings of national corruption.
  • Specific examples include:
    • South Sudan (most corrupt): Nearly 1,800 nationals admitted in 2024 ([05:40])
    • Somalia (second most corrupt): Also nearly 1,800 admissions ([05:40])
    • Venezuela (third most corrupt): Almost 2,600 migrants admitted, despite partial visa bans ([06:10])

2. Challenges of Vetting from Corrupt Countries

• Vetting Difficulties:
  • Host reads and summarizes Ronald Mortensen (CIS): "Vetting for nationals in such corrupt countries is nearly impossible for U.S. officials..." due to poor records, fraud, and bribery ([07:05]).
  • Quote:

    "In these countries, there can be no assurance that the documents available to even vet the individuals applying for the admittance into the United States are valid or even accurate." – Ronald Mortensen ([07:10])

• Fake Documentation:
  • Ferguson explains that it's easy for people in corrupt nations to buy fake documents needed for U.S. entry – from birth certificates to police records ([08:30]).

3. Who Gets Left Out?

• Bribery Favours the Corrupt:
  • Law-abiding citizens in these countries are at a disadvantage because they can’t or won’t pay bribes, making it harder for them to apply or be approved to come to the U.S. ([09:15])
• Immigration Categories:
  • Example: Out of 33,000 Afghan migrants, only 28 received visas for employment purposes, implying most immigration wasn’t based on merit or jobs ([10:40]).

4. Criticism of Democratic Leaders on Immigration

• Hillary Clinton’s Recent Remarks:
  • Clinton at Munich Security Conference:

    "It went too far. It's been disruptive and destabilizing, and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don't torture and kill people." ([11:53])

  • Ferguson notes Clinton’s candor but criticizes her for also blaming Trump and law enforcement for alleged abuses.
• Obama & Newsom's Criticism of ICE:
  • Ferguson claims Democrats acknowledge chaos at the border but focus their anger on Trump for "cleaning up their mess" ([13:00]).
  • He takes issue with comparisons of American law enforcement to authoritarian regimes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson on corruption & vetting:

  "If you want to get to the front of the line and you want to come to the United States of America from these corrupt countries, you're probably going to have to pay up and then someone's going to lie on your behalf." ([09:15])

• On who benefits from current policies:

  "If you are a law abiding citizen in one of these corrupt countries, the chances of you actually getting the documents you need to try to come to the United States of America are actually very unlikely..." ([09:25])

• Ronald Mortensen (via Ferguson):

  "Due to a combination of incompetence, poor or no record keeping, fraud, bribery and personal dishonesty, it’s impossible to know what is real and what’s not." ([07:35])

• Ferguson on Democratic leaders' tone:

  "Democrats today are admitting they created the chaos, but they're more angry at the man who's cleaning up their mess, Donald Trump." ([13:58])

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:00 | Ferguson introduces key theme: migration from corrupt nations | | 05:40 | Stats on visas for South Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela | | 07:05 | Challenges of vetting explained with CIS/Mortensen quotes | | 09:15 | Explanation of how bribes & corruption impact who gets U.S. visas | | 10:40 | Specific breakdown of Afghan immigration categories | | 11:53 | Hillary Clinton’s remarks on the need for border reform | | 13:00 | Discussion of Democrats' criticism of their own border policies | | 13:58 | Ferguson sums up by critiquing Democratic responses to Trump’s actions |

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Episode Tone & Language

• Ferguson’s tone is direct, critical of the Biden administration, and dismissive of Democratic leaders' recent immigration rhetoric.
• Quotes are presented with irony and skepticism, especially regarding non-conservative politicians.
• The episode frames Trump’s policies as common-sense reactions to otherwise "chaotic" and "dangerous" Democratic choices on immigration.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode offers a sharp critique of Biden-era immigration policies, focusing on the difficulty of vetting migrants from highly corrupt countries and suggesting that current processes favor the corrupt over the law-abiding. Ferguson contrasts this with Trump’s restrictive approach, cites supporting data and commentary, and accuses Democratic leaders of both causing and irresponsibly criticizing the current border challenges. If you’re looking for a clear articulation of the Fox News/conservative radio perspective on U.S. immigration and border security issues, you’ll find it here—with notable quotes and moments from recent international forums sprinkled throughout.

Transcript

[A]

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You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. Donald Trump was right. Before Trump became president yet again, we now know that the US Annually imported massive amounts of migrants from the most corrupt countries in the world without legitimate vetting. So why did the democrats do it? And how many came into this country? We break it all down for you, but first, I want to tell you about our friends over Patriot mobile. Every so often, something happens that reminds us just how fragile our freedoms are. We can't afford to take our rights for granted. We must draw a line in the sand. And our friends at Patriot mobile have been doing just that for more than 12 years. The truth is there is only one provider that boldly stands in the gap for Americans who believe freedom is worth fighting for, and that company is patriot mobile. 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Go to patriotmobile.com Ben47 or call 972-patriot and if you use the promo code Ben47, you're gonna get a free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com Ben47 or 972 Patriot and make the switch today. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now. Story number one, there has been a warning and it's been coming from this administration for a very long time. Donald Trump making it clear we must secure our borders and we don't need to be allowing so many people from around the world to come into this country until we get immigration under control. This is a major contrast to what we're now learning, that the United States regularly settled migrants from the most corrupt nations in the world across American communities. That coming from a new analysis. Last year, President Donald Trump halted much of this immigration via executive orders. The analysis, published by the center for Immigration Studies, looked at countries whose citizens Trump's executive orders have either entirely are partially banned from immigrating to the United States of America now. In particular, the analysis highlights corruption levels on a nation by nation basis, showing that in the fiscal year 2024 and likely prior years, the US issued visas to tens of thousands of foreign nationals literally from the most corrupt countries in the entire world. South Sudan, for example, is ranked as the most corrupt country in the world, according to a study by Transparency International. Somalia is ranked as the second most corrupt country in the world. Yet in the fiscal year 2024, nearly 1,800 nationals from South Sudan and Somalia were issued purposefully by the United States government visas to come to the United States of America. Venezuela, which has been partially banned from visa issuance, ranked as the third most corrupt country in the world. Despite this, the Biden administration in the fiscal year 2024 admitted almost 2, 600 Venezuelans to the United States of America after issuing them visas. The center for Immigration Studies, Ronald Mortensen writes that vetting for nationals in such corrupt countries is nearly impossible to vet for U.S. officials. Quote, in these countries, there can be no assurance that the documents available to even vet the individuals applying for the admittance into the United States are valid or even accurate. Mortensen continues, due to a combination of incompetence, poor or no record keeping, fraud, bribery and personal dishonesty, it's impossible to know what is real and what's not. Now let's go to that list for just a second. And this is the warning that Donald Trump gave. When there is poor or no record keeping or incompetency or corruption at this level in different countries, it's very easy to pay off officials to fraudulently make documents. You can bribe them. There is personal dishonesty within the government as well Quote, for the payment of a bribe, a citizen of these countries, and in some cases even a non citizen of that country, can obtain the official documents necessary to apply for entry into the United States, including a fake birth certificate, doctored law enforcement records, a phony diploma, a forged passport, fictitious bank statements, and all other documents normally used by US Officials to vet individuals before they're allowed to enter the United States. Mortensen writes that Trump was left with no option other than to suspend entry from highly corrupt countries order to prevent the further importation of cultures of corruption, since effective vetting is not possible. Now, to be clear, what this study is saying is that if you want to get to the front of the line and you want to come to the United States of America from these corrupt countries, you're probably going to have to pay up and then someone's going to lie on your behalf. And if you are a law abiding citizen in one of these corrupt countries, the chances of you actually getting the documents you need to try to come to the United States of America are actually very unlikely because you would have to pay bribes to even get in line to be able to come to the United States of America. You can understand why this is such a massive problem. Now, if you look at the actual list of the most corrupt countries, South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Ecuadorial, Guinea, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Burma, Haiti, Afghanistan, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Iran, Mali, Laos, Sierra Leone, Niger, and that is just a partial list of the countries that the President of the United States of America said, we just cannot trust you. When you look at how corrupt they are, they're almost all a 10 out of 10. And then you have the migrant visas. You had many of them that were categorized as special immigrants. For example, in Afghanistan, 33 000. You look at employment preference coming out of Afghanistan, for example, of the 33 000, only 28 were because of jobs diversity, immigrants coming out of Afghanistan. Of the 33,000, only 1,000. You look at the numbers, it is truly staggering. And this is exactly who the Biden administration was letting in to the United States of America. Which also brings us to something interesting that Hillary Clinton said this week as she was speaking, of course, trashing America. She did accidentally tell the truth when she was talking at the Security Council in Munich. There is a legitimate reason to have a debate about things like migration.

[A]

It went too far.

[B]

It's been disruptive and destabilizing, and it needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don't torture and kill people.

[A]

And how we're going to have a.

[B]

Strong family structure because it is at the stabilization. You listen to Hillary Clinton there. Even she's telling the truth, being blunt on immigration. It needs to be fixed in a humane way with secure borders that don't torture and kill people. She went on to say, of course, accusing the Trump administration of killing and torturing people, which is not happening. Yeah, she's still gonna play politics and still slander her own government and attack ICE agents, just like Barack Obama did this past week as well, implying that our agents are so evil that, well, we should hold them accountable. The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous. The sort of behavior that in the past we've seen in authoritarian countries and we've seen in dictatorships, but we have not seen in America. So Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and you can also add Gavin Newsom to the list of politicians saying we need to have a more orderly way of doing this in America instead of having wide open borders, which they created, but slandering American law enforcement and the Trump administration at the exact same time.

[A]

But I want to remember all those images of masked men, the secret police, something familiar in Germany. Those first images came out of my state, the second largest city in the United States of America. We saw 4,000 National Guard federalized, first time. We'd never seen anything like this. And 700 active duty Marines sent not overseas, but to the second largest city in the United States of America, militarizing the streets of my city.

[B]

Masked men.

[A]

Masked men showing up unaccountable. No idea. IDs.

[B]

So to be clear, Democrats today are admitting they created the chaos, but they're more angry at the man who's cleaning up their mess, Donald Trump. And what Donald Trump is clearly doing is saying not only am I cleaning up your mess in America that you created and in places like California or Minnesota, but I'm also making sure that those that are taking advantage of us, that are coming in on visas, are being stopped as well. And this is exactly what Donald Trump promised in the campaign. And he's clearly making good on that promise. And it's driving the left crazy, which is now why they're comparing ICE agents to Nazis, even while they're in Germany, in Munich, at a conference, attacking their own country. Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and.

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