As CBS set the stage for Sunday evening’s Elite Eight game between UConn and Duke, the network aired a feature segment on Huskies forward Alex Karaban and his family, who are immigrants from the Eastern European country of Belarus.
In an emotional, off-script response to the Karabans’ story, TNT Sports commentator Charles Barkley used the opportunity to call for fairer treatment of immigrants in the United States.
After stating that he wanted to be “careful” addressing the “touchy” subject of immigration policy, Barkley delivered a fervent defense of “amazing immigrants” in America and called for better treatment of foreign-born individuals in the U.S.
“I love that kid and his family, but the way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace,” Barkley said.
“I think there’ s a difference between amazing immigrants and criminal immigrants. And I think what’s gone on in our country and what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants is really unfortunate, and it’s really sad.
“And that’s a great immigrant story, and we have a lot of great immigrant stories out there … but some of the things that’s happening in our country to immigrants now is really unfortunate, and it’s really unfair. But immigrants built this country, and we should admire them and respect them.”
“The way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace… I think what’s going on in our country, what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad.” – Charles Barkley on CBS pic.twitter.com/uEllZpD57u
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 29, 2026
In the 2024 election, President Donald Trump carried a majority of the vote to win the presidency a second time on a platform built around mass deportations. Since taking office, Trump has deployed federal agents far and wide. Protestors have met these enforcement officials in equal or greater numbers in cities across the country, most notably Minneapolis, where two protestors were killed over the winter.
Barkley was on-air in January when news broke of Alex Pretti’s death in Minnesota. The Inside the NBA host stated at the time that “two people have died for no reason.”
On the topic of immigrants themselves, Barkley also came out against a Department of Homeland Security raid on a popular sports bar chain in Phoenix during a podcast episode in early February.
While the national news cycle has been less focused on immigration in recent weeks, Barkley brought the issue back to the surface with an urgent monologue on Sunday in the midst of NCAA tournament coverage.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.