Bill Maher thought he could corner Dr. Phil McGraw about his support for ICE operations.
The liberal host picked the wrong fight with the wrong person.
And Dr. Phil gave Bill Maher one reality check about ICE raids that left him scrambling for cover.
Bill Maher tries to shame Dr. Phil over ICE participation
Television host Dr. Phil McGraw appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and found himself under attack from the liberal comedian over his recent participation in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Maher launched into his typical sanctimonious routine, trying to shame McGraw for accompanying ICE agents during enforcement raids in Chicago and Los Angeles.
"Why are you going on these ICE raids?" Maher demanded. "I don’t understand that. You’re a guy who we know for so many years who has been working to put families together. To bring families who are apart and heal them. And now you’re going on raids with people who are literally separating families."
It was classic Maher – dripping with moral superiority and loaded with the kind of emotional manipulation that usually works on his Hollywood guests.
But Dr. Phil isn’t your typical celebrity who caves to liberal pressure.
Dr. Phil destroys Maher’s argument with simple logic
McGraw immediately called out Maher’s loaded premise with a direct response that caught the HBO host off guard.
"Well, now that’s bulls***," Dr. Phil shot back without hesitation.¹
The television personality then proceeded to dismantle Maher’s entire argument using basic law enforcement logic that even a liberal comedian should understand.
"Look, if you arrest somebody that’s a citizen, that has committed a crime or is DUI’d with a child in the backseat, do you think they don’t separate that family right then, right there? Of course they do!" McGraw explained.²
Dr. Phil continued drawing logical comparisons that exposed the weakness in Maher’s emotional appeal.
He pointed out that family separation happens routinely in cases involving bank robbery or manslaughter caused by drunk driving – because that’s simply what happens when someone breaks the law and gets arrested.
Maher tried to push back with a weak "But that’s not what’s going on," but his response showed he had no real counter to Dr. Phil’s straightforward logic.³
The reality behind ICE enforcement that liberals ignore
Dr. Phil’s defense of ICE operations comes as the agency faces unprecedented attacks from Democrat politicians and their media allies.
The conversation also turned to why ICE agents wear masks during enforcement operations – another favorite target of liberal criticism.
Maher complained about the practice, but Dr. Phil explained the harsh reality these federal agents face.
"[Legislators are] putting their [ICE agents’] names, their pictures, their addresses of their families on the internet, they’re putting them on telephone poles," McGraw revealed. "So, of course, they’re wearing masks so they don’t get outed, so people can do violence against their families."⁴
Dr. Phil wasn’t exaggerating about the dangers ICE agents face.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, assaults against federal immigration officers jumped 830 percent between January and July 2025 compared to the same timeframe last year.⁵
What the Biden years left behind
The exchange between Dr. Phil and Maher also highlights the broader immigration mess that the previous administration created through four years of open border policies.
Consider the numbers from a recent DHS Inspector General investigation.
Federal officers failed to properly process over 233,000 migrant children who entered the country since January 2021, leaving them outside the legal immigration system and vulnerable to trafficking networks.⁶
House investigators concluded that Biden-Harris policies "created a humanitarian crisis that left over 233,000 unaccompanied alien children without proper legal oversight and vulnerable to exploitation."⁷
The numbers get even worse when you dig into the details.
HHS failed to provide DHS complete sponsor addresses for over 31,000 unaccompanied migrant children, with DHS officers estimating that addresses collected were incorrect 80 percent of the time.
Of the children who were enrolled in proceedings, more than 43,000 failed to appear for court hearings, making them completely untraceable to federal authorities.⁸
This is the real humanitarian crisis – not ICE agents doing their jobs to enforce immigration law.
Maher represents the disconnect between Hollywood and reality
The exchange between Dr. Phil and Bill Maher perfectly captures the broader divide in America over immigration enforcement.
The contrast between these two men couldn’t be sharper.
Maher speaks from his perch in the entertainment industry, where immigration policy is mostly an abstract talking point for late-night monologues.
Dr. Phil actually went out and witnessed what federal agents encounter during enforcement operations – the dangerous criminals, the human trafficking networks, the children being exploited by cartels.
There’s a reason Maher’s audience cheered when he challenged Dr. Phil about the raids.
His viewers, like Maher himself, prefer their immigration debates sanitized and theoretical.
Dr. Phil, on the other hand, actually went out and saw what ICE agents deal with on a daily basis.
He witnessed the dangerous conditions these federal law enforcement officers face while trying to remove violent criminals and gang members from American communities.
The television host’s willingness to defend ICE agents shows the kind of backbone that’s been missing from too many celebrities who usually fold the moment they face liberal pressure.
This exchange also demonstrates why President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies are so popular with voters outside of Hollywood and Washington, D.C.
Real Americans understand that enforcing immigration law isn’t about breaking up families – it’s about protecting American communities from criminals who shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Bill Maher learned the hard way that his emotional manipulation tactics don’t work on someone who’s actually seen the reality of border enforcement.
¹ Newsweek, "Bill Maher Confronts Dr. Phil on Joining Trump Admin’s ICE Raids," Newsweek, August 9, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Department of Homeland Security, "DHS Announces ICE Law Enforcement are Now Facing an 830 Percent Increase in Assaults," DHS Press Release, July 15, 2025.
⁶ U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, "Bombshell Report Confirms Grassley Oversight of Biden-Harris Admin’s Failure to Protect Migrant Children," March 2025.
⁷ House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, "Taking Action to Protect Vulnerable Children Exploited by the Biden Border Crisis," March 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
