A leftover from the weekend involves New Day Saturday, which somehow manages to have even lower ratings than it’s weekday counterpart.
CNN’s Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul have a history of ridiculous immigration stories and unfairly attacking ICE. Just last year the dynamic duo defended a man that was deported back to Mexico. What they didn’t mention was that he was wanted for murder. That might seem like an important detail to normal people but this is CNN we are talking about.
They are back at it, this time bringing on a man by the name of Bryan MacCormack to celebrate the fact that he shielded two illegal immigrants from ICE, who had the paperwork to detain them.
(clip is 3:08)
The male host starts out by insinuating that ICE was lying when they said they had the proper documentation.
Newsbusters gives a further summary.
MacCormack — who is executive director of the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement — was then presented live as a guest where he got to spend time encouraging those who oppose deportations to learn their rights so they can successfully thwart the actions of ICE agents…
…At no point did either host ask their guest how much of a criminal record the two illegals may have had which might have triggered ICE to come after them. The Washington Post noted that MacCormack had driven them to and from traffic court, but that could mean they committed serious offenses like DUI or driving without insurance rather than minor infractions.
This is likely correct, although without names, we can’t be sure just yet. ICE doesn’t typically seek out random illegal immigrants. If they had orders to detain these two men, and no one is denying they didn’t, it’s highly probable that the men had criminal records. The fact that they were returning from court says something as well. MacCormack, for all his virtue signaling, almost certainly committed a crime under 8 U.S. Code § 1324, which makes it a felony to harbor illegal aliens even if you have a personal conviction about it.
Unfortunately, our lack of enforcement of such statutes only further encouraging people to flout them.
CNN then went on to encourage the man to share with others how they too can thwart ICE agents from just doing their job.
Toward the end of the segment, Blackwell further invited his guest to encourage viewers to learn how to thwart arrest attempts by ICE agents as he posed: “So what is the training that you’re going through that prepared you for this? And how can other people who are in this position know what their rights under the Constitution are?”
MacCormack talked up his “know your rights” education for illegal aliens: “I think this is very important because we do have rights. And those rights have power, and exercising those rights could be the difference between our neighbors going home to their families at night or being thrust into the deportation pipeline.”
No one is encouraging the violation of basic human rights, but to pretend that ICE doesn’t also have a legal right to detain illegal immigrants is just disingenuous. While it appears that local police didn’t want to rock the boat here, the idea that illegals can simply hide in a car from ICE doesn’t pass muster. That doesn’t work for any other segment of law enforcement. You can’t commit a crime and then tell an officer that they don’t have a warrant to open your car door. That’s ridiculous.
CNN offered no push back at all to MacCormack’s claims. In fact, the segment ended with Christi Paul actually saying this.
Paul echoed that in a follow-up: “And why do you think those rights are not more prolific? Why are they not part of the conversations that are being had with people so they can protect themselves?”
Because they are here illegally Christi. It’s not difficult.
Look, I have sympathy for illegal immigrants. Especially those that have made their homes here. There are things we can do to maintain the rule of law while also doing what we can to help these people.
But I also recognize that if we continue to have a completely lawless immigration system, it will only serve as an incentive for more to come. That is too dangerous of a cycle to continue. It enriches the cartels, costs people their lives, leads to rampant sexual abuse, feeds sex trafficking, and generally overwhelms the CBP and ICE, who are just trying to enforce the laws as they stand. It’s not fair to them or anyone else to continue along this path.
In the case of ICE, they are almost always going after people with serious criminal records, as they do not have the resources to waste on others. People and jurisdictions that try to prevent them from doing their job should be held accountable. They shouldn’t be celebrated and promoted as CNN did here. This is yet another example of just how unserious of a “news” network they’ve become. Activism is not news and it shouldn’t be paraded as such.
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