‘The Ranch’ Actor Jim Beaver Throws Shade Over Controversial US Border Policy

The Ranch star Jim Beaver lashed out at the new family separation policy at the U.S. southern border in a tweet on Tuesday.

Beaver, who plays Chuck on Netflix’s beloved conservative sitcom, is not a fan of the Justice Department’s new policy that has ripped 2,000 children from the arms of their parents. He took to Twitter on Tuesday, decrying not only the practice but the motivation he believes is implicit in it.

“If a family of European stock sought asylum in the US and crossed illegally at the northern border, would the children be separated from their parents?” Beaver asked rhetorically. “Or does melanin play a part?”

Many of Beaver’s followers seemed to agree with his take on the situation, replying with their own comparisons of the policy to atrocities based on bigotry.

“My father came over ‘on the boat’ to escape Hitler and his followers way back in 1935… and now I live here… in the beginning of a nightmare,” replied one user. “Is this what my grandmother felt? Because I feel fear… I’m glad my father didn’t live to see this sometimes.”

“Oh, melanin most definitely plays a part,” commented another. “The darker the shade the easier it is to hide the atrocities in the shadows.”

One of Beaver’s co-stars, Sharon Lawrence, also took her feelings on the immigration issue to Twitter. Lawrence has retweeted numerous condemnations of the border policy, including one from former first lady Laura Bush.

“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote, along with a link to her opinion piece in the Washington Post. Lawrence retweeted a post from former first lady Michelle Obama, which added to Bush’s statement: “Sometimes truth transcends party.”

The U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency has been ordered to detain all illegal immigrants at the border for the crime of crossing illegally, while taking their children to detainment centers. There is no process in place for reuniting those families, and no staff on hand to care for the detained children — many of whom are below the age of ten.

As the outcry continues, President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the policy is based off of laws put in place by Democratic lawmakers, though it is not based on any laws at all. The policy was created last month by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

On Wednesday, President Trump apparently confirmed on Twitter that the family separation policy was a strategy to force democrats to compromise on long-term immigration laws — including the funding of his wall.

“It’s the Democrats fault, they won’t give us the votes needed to pass good immigration legislation,” he tweeted. “They want open borders, which breeds horrible crime. Republicans want security. But I am working on something – it never ends!”