Bill Maher Grills Dr. Phil Over Trump-Era ICE Raid Embeds

HBO host Bill Maher used Friday night’s edition of “Real Time” to challenge Phil McGraw over the television personality’s recent decision to accompany U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on deportation raids ordered by the Trump administration. Maher argued the operations “literally separate families” and suggested the policy was unpopular, prompting a blunt rebuttal from McGraw, who called the criticism “bullshit.” McGraw, 74, defended his involvement by likening the removal of undocumented migrants with criminal records to standard police arrests that also result in temporary family separations. He said files he reviewed showed some of those targeted had “12 or 14” prior offenses, including child-predator allegations, and insisted the raids focused on “the worst first.” Answering Maher’s criticism that ICE agents appeared masked during the operations, McGraw said legislators had posted officers’ personal information online, forcing agents to conceal their identities for safety. ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, another panelist, agreed on the need for stronger border controls but questioned tactics that allow agents to enter workplaces, churches and other locations beyond the original scope of the sweeps. The exchange spotlighted McGraw’s evolving public role since ending his long-running daytime talk show. He embedded with ICE in Chicago in January and sent a film crew to raids in Los Angeles in June, moves that have aligned him more closely with the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration stance and sparked criticism from liberal commentators and immigrant-rights groups.