Arnold Schwarzenegger stuns US chat show hosts with controversial four-word message to immigrants

Arnold Schwarzenegger's impassioned speech about US immigrants on The View has sparked some controversy among viewers.

The Terminator star, 77, was invited onto the popular chat show to discuss the latest season of his Netflix series, FUBAR, when he began to delve into the nitty-gritty of the current situation in the States.

Protests took place in Los Angeles last week after President Donald Trump deployed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to round up immigrants.

There has been a lot of discussion about how California Governor Gavin Newsom handled the situation, which prompted The View hosts to ask Schwarzenegger, a former California governor himself, to share his hypothetical strategy for dealing with the discourse in the City of Angels.

Presenter Joy Behar then asked the bodybuilding legend to offer his opinion on the recent actions of ICE while pointing out that he was an immigrant himself, having moved to the US in 1968 at the age of 21.

She asked: "As an immigrant yourself, did you have a visceral reaction to what ICE is doing when you saw the videos of it?"

Schwarzenegger said he was 'so proud and happy' that he was embraced so warmly by Americans when he arrived 57 years ago, while reflecting on how prosperous his life became after he made the move.

"Imagine, I came over here at the age of 21 with absolutely nothing - and then to create a career like that...I mean, in no other country in the world can you do that," the Total Recall actor said.

"Every single thing. If it's my bodybuilding career, my acting career, becoming governor, the beautiful family that I've created - all of this is because of America.

"This is why I'm so so happy to see firsthand that this is the greatest country in the world and the land of opportunity."

However, Schwarzenegger emphasised the importance of doing this the 'legal' way - before delivering a four word message which has proved controversial among viewers.

"You got to do things legal," the father-of-five continued. "And those people that are doing illegal things in America, and the foreigners, they are not smart.

"Because when you come to America, you’re a guest. And you have to behave like a guest."

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Democrats and Republicans have to come together and solve [immigration reform] if they really want to be public servants. If they want to be party servants ... it won't happen." pic.twitter.com/HkUOH6FkhQ

— The View (@TheView) June 17, 2025

It is the latter part of his sentence which has rubbed some people up the wrong way, as many people reckoned it sounded like Schwarzenegger was tarring everyone with the same brush.

The View host Whoopi Goldberg then interjected to point out that the majority of immigrants are trying to do things the legal way and would love to have an experience similar to Schwarzenegger's.

"Right but, Arnold don’t forget, there’s a...90 percent of the people who come here are trying to do the right thing," she interjected.

"And a lot of what’s happening right now is people are getting snatched, who shouldn’t be snatched out of the country. People who have visas, people who have all those things.

"So, we want all the right people. We don’t want people who are doing bad stuff."

Schwarzenegger went on to explain what he meant by 'behaving like a guest', putting it into the context of being invited to stay at someone's home.

The Austrian actor said: "I will do everything I can to keep things clean, make my bed, and to do everything that is the right thing to do, rather than committing a crime or being abusive or something like that.

"That doesn't really work in this country.

"So the important thing is, when you become an immigrant, to think about, 'Okay, I go to America because I want to use America for the great opportunities that America has in education, jobs, creating a family', all of those kind of things.

"Then you have to think, 'If I get all of those things from America, then I have to give something back'.

"You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America, pay back to America and to go and do something for your community for no money whatsoever.

"Give something back to your afterschool programmes, special Olympics, or whatever it is - make this country a better place."