Fox News Laura Ingraham and a guest pushed back on Friday against President Joe Biden s pledge to accept 100,000 refugees fleeing Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Obviously, our hearts break for the people in Ukraine. It is absolutely horrific what has happened to them, said Ingraham, before asking guest Todd Bensman: But is bringing them all the way to the United States in their best interest? And what about the U.S. taxpayers?

Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies a far-right anti-immigrant group thats known for its ties to white nationalists suggested the refugees would be better off staying in Europe where they have been offered three-year residencies with associated health care, rights to work and housing.

So theres really no reason whatsoever for Ukrainians to be coming to our border or for us to be bringing in huge swells, numbers of Ukrainians here, he argued. Theyre doing great for a group of war refugees.

The issue is that they are not asylum-seekers, Bensman added. They have asylum, right in their own neighborhood, so its a little bit disingenuous.

Then that makes more sense. OK, Ingraham agreed.

More than 3.5 million refugees have now fled Russias invasion. More than half of Ukraines 7.5 million children have been displaced by the conflict.

The Biden White House, announcing its pledge on Thursday, acknowledged in a fact sheet that it expected many Ukrainians will choose to remain in Europe close to family and their homes in Ukraine.

But its raft of measures aimed to help relieve some of the pressure on the European host countries that are currently shouldering so much of the responsibility, reported CNN , citing a senior official.