Media Ignores or Denigrates President Trump's Event Honoring Angel Families

President Donald Trump stands alongside family members affected by crime committed by undocumented immigrants, at the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Friday, the White House did what it should have done before announcing the zero-tolerance policy on the border. President Trump held a meeting with the group called Angels Families, they are the families of people who have been killed, mostly murdered, by illegal aliens and they represent a living reminder of why we should be rigorously enforcing our immigration laws. While the media is obsessed with the stories of illegals who are being deported after living for years in the US, often with the benefit of identity theft, they have been stone silent on the damage done by illegals. There have been claims that illegals are no more prone to crime than any other group but the fact that illegals comprise about a fourth of the inmates in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons says that is not true. As I posted a few weeks ago, the notion being pushed by many on the left that MS-13 is an imaginary bogeyman created by white nativists is lunacy.

President Trump on Friday blasted what he described as a media double standard on immigration, as he honored families whose loved ones were killed by illegal immigrants and accused the press of ignoring them to focus on the plight of migrants caught crossing the border.

After a week of saturation coverage on illegal immigrant parents separated from their children — a policy Trump reversed under public and political pressure — the president stressed that so-called Angel Families have been “permanently separated.”

The families, whose children and other relatives were killed by illegal immigrants, echoed that message during the White House event.

“You don’t hear these stories,” said Steve Ronnebeck, whose 21-year-old son Grant was killed by an illegal immigrant over a pack of cigarettes. “But this is permanent separation.”

The family members joined Trump and Vice President Pence at the event Friday, holding photos of their departed loved ones.

“These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones. The word you have to think about is ‘permanently,’” Trump said Friday. “Because they were killed by illegal immigrants. These are the families that the media ignores. This is a very unfair situation.”

The stories being told by Angel Families at the White House right now are absolutely horrifying. A shame they don’t receive the same outrage and empathy response as the illegal alien lawbreakers repeatedly do.

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) June 22, 2018

Happening now: President Trump delivers remarks on immigration with Angel Families. Learn more how ICE's VOICE Office is working with the victims affected by crimes committed by individuals with a nexus to immigration. https://t.co/ywUCvddTPm pic.twitter.com/G077w0UYjI

— ICE (@ICEgov) June 22, 2018

Trump is listing statistics on crimes committed by undocumented immigrants at an event with Angel Families. pic.twitter.com/F3VYr2MQjS

— POLITICO (@politico) June 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/WiredSources/status/1010267387151699970

Of course, the coverage the event received was focused on slamming Trump.

Trump autographs photos of people killed by undocumented immigrants https://t.co/HwxupmGngb pic.twitter.com/2K5rtxK9O9

— The Hill (@thehill) June 23, 2018

This is weird, right? https://t.co/UZAuiARMEZ

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 22, 2018

But, much like the image of the little girl crying, there was a helluva lot more to the story.

REQUESTED by family members after their private meeting and visit to the Oval Office – which took place before public remarks, as seen in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, below. https://t.co/vP0ac11YpD

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸 (@Scavino45) June 23, 2018

This is the kind of thing the White House needs to do more often. It needs to continue highlighting MS-13. It needs to highlight how the trafficking of illegals and narcotics — which, by the way, go hand in hand as illegals are often funneled into an area of the border to draw law enforcement there while drugs are coming in by a different route — have made life for farmers, ranchers, homeowners, and travelers much more dangerous. What the administration is trying to do on the border is correct, but their packaging and sales pitch needs substantial work.

This is the whole event cued up as President Trump comes into the room: