As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement authorities continue to face a wave of threats and attacks, the corporate media has engaged in an outrageous campaign of lies and slander that is fueling the unrest.
The latest example of a mainstream outlet reporting unsubstantiated rumors as verified fact comes to us from NBC News, which claimed recently, without evidence, that immigration officers were holding a young girl with special needs hostage until her dad turned himself in for processing.
“ICE held 5-year-old autistic girl in Massachusetts to pressure father to surrender, family says,” an NBC story on September 23 read. The story alleged that law enforcement “surrounded” and “encircled” the girl, claims based entirely on video from Telemundo, which is owned by NBCUniversal.
“They took my daughter, she’s 5 years old. She [is on the] autism spectrum,” NBC reported her mom saying. The girl’s father claimed police “grabbed” the girl, and NBC reported that the goal was to “coax” him to leave the house.
Democrat Party leaders, including Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and progressive Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), rushed to condemn the incident, with Omar renewing her calls to abolish ICE altogether.
But as ICE later proved, the entire story was false – forcing NBC to make major changes to its initial story.
In reality, the supposedly upstanding father “ignored law enforcement emergency lights to pull over and drove back to his house,” according to ICE. The dad also “fled from the car” (leaving his daughter in the vehicle), flipped off the police, and ran inside.
The law enforcement who “surrounded” the girl were local cops who were called on to keep her safe, given that her father had just abandoned her. Edward Mejia, the man arrested, has been breaking the country’s laws for more than 20 years and has a previous arrest for domestic abuse and strangulation.
Yet even though the facts directly disproved NBC’s reporting, the fake story had already taken on a life of its own as major news outlets, including The Daily Mail, rushed to publish their own unverified stories about the incident.
Other examples show how the media has been quick to publish every dubious sob story it can find about immigration enforcement actions.
In July, the media ran with a story that claimed ICE arrested an 82-year-old Chilean grandfather who came in for a green card appointment. According to the media narrative, the grandfather died in custody in Guatemala. At least that is the story Morning Call published, which formed the basis for numerous other articles, as noted by National Review.
But it was later revealed that no such man exists, and no arrest occurred. “This was a hoax peddled by the media who rushed to press without pausing to corroborate the facts with DHS. This was journalistic malpractice,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the press.
That same month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a Mexican woman with staging her own “kidnapping” by federal agents “to generate public sympathy and solicit donations.”
Also over the summer, a man named Jossimar Cabrera claimed ICE deported his wife, then said she actually left him for another man.
Law enforcement is now investigating Cabrera after video emerged of him dragging a large bag before police found her body near a river. He has been charged with murder and arrested after fleeing to Peru.
The situation has gotten so bad that DHS put out an entire list in June of “numerous false and misleading stories that have been dumped by the media and on social media” that were spread just that month.
This list included false claims that ICE targets nannies in parks, that a six-year-old with leukemia had been arrested, and that the agency caused a pregnant woman to have a miscarriage.
While the media’s extreme gullibility is dishonest, it is also dangerous at a time when radical left-wing groups and individuals are looking for any excuse to assault immigration enforcement agents. In September, an anti-immigration enforcement extremist attacked a Dallas ICE field office. In a cruelly ironic twist, he killed one detainee and injured two others.
As The Federalist reported, the fake NBC News story “helped amplify anti-ICE sentiment… that fueled Wednesday’s shooting.” The Department of Homeland Security reports that there has been a “1,000 percent increase in assaults against [agents], including vehicles being used as weapons towards them, and doxing campaigns targeting federal officers and their families.”
The media has a responsibility to set aside its left-wing biases and report the news fairly and accurately. Americans want to know the truth about what is happening with immigration enforcement. But biased journalists are instead resorting to spreading fake news that fits with their own antipathy toward Trump and ICE instead of fulfilling their duty to investigate the facts and report only what is true.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
There is no surprise here. MSM continues to spread false stories that are stirring up the idiots who haven’t got a clue of what is happening. The Democrats just let it go and add fuel to the fire as they continue to divide the nation.
A 200 million dollar lawsuit would probably have some effect in stopping these false reports. This is obviously defamation. After the corrupt media pays out several billion dollars for repeated defamation, it will stop, but not before.
Body cams. Fast turn-around on captured videos to disprove the blatant lying by EVIL.
It’s overwhelming, the volume of stupidity happening daily, but it must be instantly made available to any and every friendly news outlet.
Don’t let EVIL win.
Of course D-Omar wants ICE abolished. She’s Muslim. She needs ICE gone so she can get her countrymen into the United States illegally.
Duh.
As DJT says, They are “enemies of the people.” All of their false narratives go one way-paint Trump and conservatives as “bogeymen” and DIMMs, illegals, and “trannies” as heroes! We need another billionaire, or a consortium, to buy one of the woke networks and put on REAL news!
LYING and TRASHING the GOOD GUYS and ANYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT IS GOOD FOR AMERICA is THE SOLE MISSION of the mega corrupt, far leftwing progressive socialist America-hating Commies in the Fake News media, in ALL their outlets.
NO ONE, that has at least one working brain cell, believes or gives a damn what these evil parasites say or print.
They have zero credibility and just like the Democrats, they are America’s ENEMIES WITHIN.
ICE agents need start shooting in self defense. We need to purge the U.S. of Islam, main stream media and of libtards!
The lying Pravda State Run Media will all answer to God. God is Truth and Love and Justice. All Liars and other Evil Doers will be Judged for what they did on earth and will get Justice from God the Just Judge. They will get what they deserve in Eternity which is forever, as you give account for what you did on earth. I pity these people.
MSM lied about a story. Do tell.
The MSM is only good for local weather reports, and, all too often, they don’t get those right. The main reason their audiences are shrinking is that they’re so biased and they’ve been caught lying so often that very few believe what the broadcast.
Where are the Chet Huntley and David Brinkley’s of our age to give us just the real news…
This is society is going right down the septic tank. Now attacks on police are considered to be good. Yes that’s correct that’s what ice agents are they are federal police and now it’s good to attack them. Going to have to institute a new 911 system the cross references your political affiliation if it comes up as Democrat, officers do not respond
I live in Illinois and am really fed up with the democrats that have destroyed this once great state.What I fear is that the rest of our country see’s all of Illinois is full of liberal,leftist,socialist democ rats,it’s not,most of downstate Illinois is normal.This leftist thing is mostly chitcago.
I am so sick of the Democrat’s and the lying MEDIA controlled by Soros. Why can’t something be done by our DOJ to stop this madness, start arresting and prosecuting!!!!
I am so sick of these left wing journalists. They are not journalists, they are left wing radical agitators. Every one of them should be fired from ever broadcasting the news. They wouldn’t know news if it slapped them in the face. I absolutely refuse to watch any so called news on any of the major networks or CNN, MSNBC, or any of the left wing propaganda networks. They need to go out of business for doing nothing but lying and spreading false stories to prop up their own radical agendas.
the media has always been communistic at least since 1933 when roosevelt recognized communist russia
There was a word we used to define people who fought tooth and nail against Law and Order. The word was CRIMINALS!
It is time for ICE to take control and put these agitators in their place. All these demonstrations and I see them playing with these troublemakers instead of clobbering them when they are being assaulted. No criminal, rioter, demonstrator is afraid of any law enforcement today. When law enforcement starts fighting back instead of being weak, we may see some results in controlling these agitators. Three members of my family in law enforcement up North agree with me.
Yes they corrected but after the lie was out there. That is what people will remember.
They are the true public enemy number one.
Media aids assults by Antifa day 1, see 2020 riots
The MSM and liberal left are like an arsonist who starts an insurance fire (their insurance is millions of new voters, why do you think they oppose voter ID). They started this fire and will do everything they can to keep the fire department (ICE) from putting it out.
The progressives with the help of democrat leaders just have started a war in this country. Pritzker is the one in Illinois who has declared war on ICE agents and other law enforcement groups. The same in Portland Oregon. The communists are taking over. Sanders cals this the worst crisis since the Civil War. Created by the democrats, only he leaves off that part. You have seen the professional protesters. They attack anything conservative. They don’t really care about the illegals they are just pawns in their plan to destroy America. They shut down the country because the conservative do not want to bankrupt this country any further. We all have to tighten our belts. Except the democrats. They will get their salary paid while they go on TV telling lies. Obamacare needs to be overhauled. It never was affordable health insurance. The taxpayers should not have to pay high premiums and again pay taxes for subsidy to those who can’t afford the premiums. That is also on the dems shoulders. But they don’t care. They have been lying for so long. Everything is coming out so they become even more brazen. MSM makes up stories against ICE agents that are lies and fabrications. They just keep the brainwashing going. We need to do some arrests of these obstructionists, dissidents, who oppose law and order in this country. Starting with the democrat leadership. They are divisive supporting foreign invaders against the citizens of the USA. Pritzker keeps saying them. Them who JB? You mean your fellow citizens and law enforcements? They are not the enemy here, you are
The corrupt media is the propaganda arm of the criminal left, so it should be no surprise that the narrative coming from trash NBC and their comrades would support the assassins of ICE.
The more things change, the more things stay the same……
The media has no right to shield themselves with the First Amendment while telling lies and spreading falsehoods. They must be prosecuted for every known incident. Time to stop this nonsense.
If its in the legacy media the odds seem to be 90% that its a lie.
The media is bought and paid for by the elitist like Soros, etc.!! Those individuals are paid to attack the ICE agents, police, the military, etc, so they are enemies to our country as well as paid mercenaries!!!! So they should be treated as such, this would include the Socialist Democratic Party!!! It is time to put an end to this once and for all!!!
All linking back to the Marxism that has taken over our “educational” (indocrintational) institutions. “The legal system (lawyers, judges and the courts) and the police all serve the interests of the Bourgeoisie. These institutions are used to control the masses, prevent revolution and keep people in a state of false consciousness.”
interference in lawful federal actions must be discontinued!
“Journalists” these days don’t know how to research a news story before they jump to publish, not verify, to smear “the other side.” . They are very poorly trained, partisan rather than objective, more often stupid and definitely lazy. This is no surprise as they have been at it for at least a generation, getting more and more lazy about what they report and publish.. Thank goodness for online media where the truth can be outed.
The attacks on ICE are ridiculous. However, entry to homes by Immigration searchers should be without damage to structure or doors and only in hot pursuit if they don’t have a warrant to enter.
Too many news outlets in the U.S. today are much like the Soviet Union’s Pravda and the current Chinese Communist Party’s news agencies in that they are promoting Socialist propaganda rather than reporting actual news. Many of today’s U.S. news agencies are being highly influenced by the CCP’s propaganda machine and Russia is following its past Soviet Union ways by having Russian news agencies posing as U.S. agencies. Both Communist and past Communist influences are using liberal minded American citizens through more Progressive persons wanting to change the U.S. to a Socialist nation.
We must read every point of view and analyze each word to obtain actually true information over lies being promoted as truth.
Only the most stupid of stupid lefties still pay any attention to the lefty media. They lied their way through covid, lied their way through the election. One would have to be an absolute moron think the lamestream lefty media has any credibility remaining…if they ever had any to begin with.
The best way to handle that is to sue them until the next lie that they tell will put them out of business. Use all that money to give the taxpayers of America a break from the high taxes that the democrats have forced on their shoulders.
the scary thing is that libs believe whatever the media say-they buy it hook, line and sinker. they’re a bunch of lemmings ready to plunge over the cliff for whatever their guru’s call.
NOT ONE PERSON IN THE EVIL, LYING, ANTI-AMERICA RADICALLY LEFT-WING FAKE NEWS MEDIA HAS A MORAL OR HONEST BONE IN THEIR BODY.
THEY ARE CORRUPT TO THE CENTER OF THEIR BONE MARROW.
Freedom of the press does NOT give the press the freedom to wilfully and knowingly print or broadcast blatant lies, while also knowing it will incite violent and deadly riots. There is a journalistic responsibility to first gathering as many FACTS as possible BEFORE reporting any news-worthy story. A total disregard for doing so MUST BE PUNISHABLE with fines, losing one’s job, serving jail time, and or the news outlet being sued for massive fines, or losing their license. There has to be and there MUST BE accountability across the board in what has become a completely out-of-control, corrupt and dangerous national press corps. A national press corps that has no morals, no concern for the aftermath of mayhem and tragic actions their lies in reporting causes. A national press corps that has no integrity and that will print or broadcast ANYTHING regardless of what happens. They simply don’t care because there are no penalties.
Simply put, this is what PURE EVIL IS!!
The media is as bad or maybe worse than the protestors. The protestors are sometimes just ingnorant of any real facts. The media (ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and sometimes even Fox add fuel to an already burning fire in order to provoke violance and be first in line for the almighth dollar. The media is very much a part of the swamp in my opinion.
How do these reporters get by with lies and unverified reports to create a story?
I am so sick of the lies and BS being perpetuated by the mainstream media, corrupt demoncrap politicians, ILLEGAL ALIENS, and anti-America hate groups. ILLEGAL ALIENS are to blame for all the traumatizations befalling their families. YOU are breaking our laws and YOU are bringing the consequences of your actions to fall on your families. ICE is doing its job as they are supposed to do. YOU ILLEGAL ALIENS have known your illegal status for decades and have done NOTHING about it. Now you want to cry and blame everyone else for the consequences of your actions catching up with you? YOU DID THIS. SMH