CNN's Jim Acosta Badgers WH Official On Immigration

CNN's Jim Acosta

Presidential adviser Stephen Miller and CNN’s Jim Acosta got into a heated debate at the White House press briefing Wednesday — over whether the Trump Administration was violating the spirit of the Statue of Liberty by backing a tough new immigration proposal.

“When it comes to immigration, the Statue of Liberty says ‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free.’ It doesn’t say anything about speaking English or learning to be a computer programmer,” the Cuban-American Acosta declared.

“Aren’t you trying to change what it means to be an immigrant coming into this country, if you are telling them you have to speak English. Can’t people learn how to speak English when they get here?”

Miller defended the proposed law, which Trump backed in a White house appearance earlier in the day.

It calls for a crackdown on legal immigration, with the number of Green Cards issued each year slashed from 1 million to 500,000.

The law would also give preference to English speakers with solid job skills, according to The NY Post.

Acosta then drew Miller’s ire by suggesting the policy was racist.

“Didn’t you grow up in Los Angeles?” Acosta replied, adding that it “sounds like you’re trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country through this policy.”

Miller fired back, “Jim, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant, and foolish things you’ve ever said.”

Fox News commentator Eric Bolling harshly criticized White House adviser Stephen Miller for his altercation with a CNN reporter at Wednesday's press briefing.

"Listen, he’s a brilliant guy, he’s a great policy adviser," Bolling said on "The Fox News Specialists."

"He is not a communications person. Don't put that guy in front of the cameras again."

On "Tucker Carlson Tonight," pundit Mark Steyn slammed Acosta for "hijacking" the press conference and for "showboating."

"If you want to do The Jim Acosta Show, there's a rusting boxcar around the back of the freight yard with three semi-comatose hobos who are interested in it. But nobody else is," Steyn said.

Steyn pointed out that there are 60 countries that have English as an official language, so Acosta's suggestion that the Trump administration is "trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country" is ridiculous.

Tucker said it appears that Acosta believes English isn't just a language, but a race.

He said that up until about 50 years ago, it was normal for a countries to create immigration systems based on merit and who could most easily assimilate.