Irish Filmmaker: Immigration's a Massive Problem in the UK

As the Brexit vote that will decide whether the United Kingdom will leave the European Union nears, millions of people around the world anxiously wait to see how the outcome could impact the global economy.

Phelim McAleer, an Irish documentary filmmaker, joined the FOX Business Network’s Risk & Reward to explain the sentiment of many in the U.K., comparing the current situation to one in the United States.

“There’s an anti-establishment movement, where the establishment politicians and people like John Oliver—the working class are turning against them,” McAleer said. “Working class whites are turning against them—they’ve been let down.”

McAleer believes the two biggest reasons why people in the U.K. want to leave the European Union are immigration and regulation.

“When I was young, Britain was the ‘sick man’ of Europe,” he said. “Now the rest of Europe is sick. It’s got inflexible labor policies, it’s got economies that aren’t growing—France, Spain, Italy. The fear of immigration is one thing, but also then the fear that they’re trying to drag Britain down.”