Tipsheet

Ouch: ICE Brutally Fact-Checks Journos

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  February 14, 2025 12:01 PM

Denver's NBC affiliate published a headline this week that read, "Man Without Criminal History Detained By ICE on His Way to Work."  The framing of the story was that poor Victor Manuel was victimized by a random demand for papers as he minded his own business, en route to be a productive member of society at his job.  Why would cruel, heartless Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest someone like this, when the stated enforcement priorities center on criminals?  First of all, emphasizing illegal immigrants with criminal records and standing deportation orders does not preclude detaining and deporting other people who are 'only' in the country illegally.  Illegal immigrants have no legal right to be here.  Secondly, here is how ICE responded to the report in question.  This is going to leave a mark:


Crossing the US border illegally is a crime.  Doing so more than once is a felony.  Add on multiple DUI's, including just last month, and Mr. Manuel is a prime target for arrest and forcible removal.  Why he was portrayed as a "man without criminal history" is unclear, though a partial explanation is below.  With egg on its face, the station apologized and retracted its reporting.  If you're going to screw up, this is the way to handle the error:


This could have been avoided by actually talking to Big, Bad, Scary ICE before running with the story.  Meanwhile, here's another instance of media malpractice and embarrassing, self-discrediting spin in this realm.  Fox's Bill Melugin can scarcely believe his eyes:


Melugin responds:

I cannot believe this was printed. Russ Contreras (the same guy who wrote Biden had the most secure border ever) now has a "scoop" that Biden's Border Patrol in November arrested more illegal migrants than Trump's is now. Yes, because illegal crossings have fallen to microscopic levels since Trump took office. There are far fewer people to arrest. And if you want to talk ICE data, the Trump [administration] ICE made more interior arrests in two weeks than Biden did in the entire month of November.

Stories like this (and the previous propaganda piece Melugin calls out) get publushed because there are media-preferred narratives that must be fed. In reality, Biden presided over a stunning 10 million illegal crossings, an unprecedented crisis. By contrast, enforcement is now way up, attempted unlawful entries are way down, and 'got-aways' have fallen off a cliff.  The US government is now mobilizing against illegal immigration in a major way, though 'sanctuary' jurisdictions are a notable and appalling exception.  Massachusetts is among the worst of the worst:

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It is astounding and outrageous that Massachusetts habitually releases credibly accused child rapists back onto the streets at all, let alone alleged child rapists who are also in the country illegally.  Their politicians prioritize protecting illegal immigrants over the safety of American children.  Contrast that with ICE's statement on the matter. Who better aligns with your values?

“Jose Fernando-Perez has been charged with some horrific crimes against a minor in our commonwealth,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “He is exactly the type of alien we are targeting with our ‘worst first’ policy. He posed a significant danger to the children of Massachusetts, and we will not tolerate such a threat to our community. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious alien offenders from our New England communities.”


Some of this man's legal trouble has been adjudicated in Lynn, Massachusetts, the same community in which a different illegal immigrant was recently charged with murdering a small business owner.  I'll leave you with a prominent Democrat offering pointers to illegal immigrants, like these violent felons, on how to avoid capture: