OPINION
ROOKE: When Will The Media’s Favorite Conspiracy Theories Stop Falling Apart?
MARY ROOKE
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS WRITER
The media’s favorite pastime seems to be pushing false narratives about the crisis at the southern border, including that there isn’t an active emergency, despite Americans being well aware of the record number of illegal border crossings that have taken place under Biden’s presidency.
NBC News lamented Thursday about Texas’ decision to reject orders from President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) goons trying to prevent the state from protecting its residents from illegal immigration by taking control of over 2 miles of Texas land in the Shelby Park region of Eagle Pass, Texas.
The outlet promoted the falsehood that the Texas Military Department (TMD) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused U.S. Border Patrol agents access to the area, preventing them from saving three illegal immigrants struggling to cross the Rio Grande.
“DHS officials said Saturday that a woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande after Border Patrol agents ‘were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area’ under orders from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott,” NBC News reported.
This outlet and others ran with unsubstantiated claims from DHS officials accusing Texas of neglecting to save the victims and refusing federal agents the opportunity to aid in the rescue as part of the narrative campaign against the state. They want to use the emotional distress Americans feel when we see seemingly innocent lives lost to coerce Texas officials into giving up their constitutional authority to protect their land.
The biggest issue when you scam the public is when the narrative can be easily proven false. After an investigation into the incident, TMD found that DHS’s claims of Border Patrol agents’ requests to rescue the illegal immigrants were “wholly inaccurate.”
“At the time that Border Patrol requested access, the drownings had occurred, Mexican Authorities were recovering the bodies, and Border Patrol expressed these facts to the TMD personnel on site,” a statement released by the Texas agency said. “TMD Soldiers were in direct communication with Border Patrol on the evening of 12 January when Border Patrol requested access to Shelby Park. Soldiers confirmed that when Border Patrol requested access to the park, they stated that Mexican Authorities had already recovered the bodies of two drowned migrants.”
TMD found that not only were the illegal immigrants sadly already dead by the time Border Patrol requested access to Shelby Park, the soldiers searched for others traveling with the three victims until it was determined “no additional migrants were in the river or in distress.”
This is not the first time the media helped push a false narrative about the border in order to help Democrats push progressive immigration policies onto Americans. While former President Trump was in office, building a border wall was considered too expensive a burden for American taxpayers, an endeavor that would do little to stop the flow of illegal immigration and proof of his racism against non-citizens.
The pictures of abandoned “kids in cages,” separated from their parents, were used as more evidence of Trump’s cruelty until Americans found out during the 2020 Presidential debate that the wire-holding facilities were first built and used during the Obama Administration.
“They built cages,” Trump said. “You know, they used to say I built the cages. And then they had a picture in a certain newspaper, and it was a picture of these horrible cages, and they said, look at these cages, President Trump built them. And then it was determined they were built in 2014. That was him. [The Obama Administration] built cages.”
That’s when the media dutifully stepped up to play the part of narrative keepers by ensuring everyone understood that although it’s true Obama originated the practice, Trump’s closed-border policies made him the villain. “‘Kids in cages’: It’s true that Obama built the cages at the border. But Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy had no precedent,” a headline from The Washington Post read.
Republican Rep. Ana Paulina Luna responded to the idea that family separation is a cruel practice by explaining that without this verification step, children are being trafficked into the United States for dark purposes, including sexual abuse.
“Family separation allows you to confirm the biological identity of the individual that claims to be related to the individual that they’re bringing across the border,” Luna explained. “Family separation and biological confirmation saves lives.”
The press didn’t question DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ claims that Border Patrol agents whipped illegal immigrants from Haiti who were trying to cross the border. “Our nation saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are. We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism,” Mayorkas said, despite being informed by Assistant Secretary of DHS Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa that agents were innocent two hours before.
“To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped — it’s outrageous,” Biden told the press. “I promise you, those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences.”
DHS’ Office of Professional Responsibility found that there was no evidence to suggest Border Patrol agents whipped migrants, making it another narrative pushed by the media that turned out to be false.
When you don’t have facts and logic, the only option is to promote lies that elicit an emotional response. You don’t have to be right if you can control citizens’ heartstrings. You just have to make them believe you have the moral high ground.
Read more: https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/18/rooke-conspiracy-theory-illegal-immigration-texas-abbott-paxton/
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