Unable to take the lead in openly defending illegal immigration, some in the media have taken to pulling specific cases to highlight President Trump's efforts to ensure the only people living in America are folks who should be here as cruel, unfair, and arbitrary.
Yesterday, my colleague Sister Toldjah and I posted on a CBS news article that accused President Trump of lying about focusing on deporting the "worst of the worst." The story focused on the fact that "only" 14 percent of deportees have been charged with or convicted of a violent crime. As the Department of Homeland Security explained, "Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as 'non-violent crimes.'" When that category is included, the number leaps to nearly 70 percent. See CBS's Attempt to Attack President Trump's Deportation Project Gets Harsh Response from Homeland Security – RedState. Most don't have a problem with deporting fraudsters and pedophiles, CBS knows that, and by framing the issue as "violent crime," they try to absolve drug pushers and kiddie diddlers of their actions.
The other part of the puzzle is how many of the remaining third without any criminal offenses in the U.S. were guilty of some heinous crap back home. Take the case of Edward Hernandez, an illegal from El Salvador. While his record has been squeaky clean, emphasize the word "record," because we can't know about his unrevealed activities, according to the Department of Homeland Security, "he is an MS-13 member & confessed to murdering 5 people in El Salvador through shooting, torturing, stabbing, and dismemberment (including one victim who was alive)."
How about this guy, whose only offense in the U.S. was driving without a license? Well, like the "Maryland Dad," he's a bad actor.
Horrendous crimes such as the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, burglary, fraud, human smuggling, even being in a gang like MS13 or Tren de Aragua or being a known or suspected terrorist are considered “non-violent crimes” by the media.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 9, 2026
Take Antonio Israel… https://t.co/obCuzBxE4j pic.twitter.com/NvqeNvukp8
So do we really want him in the U.S.? I know I don't. See Update: Another Nail Gets Hammered Into Media-Driven Talking Point About Arrests of Non-Violent Illegals – RedState.
The other tactic is to try to generate an emotional response by ignoring or downplaying key parts of the story. Sometimes the truth is so deeply buried, or ignored, that in the right light it could be mistaken for a bald-faced lie.
NBC ran a story called Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention and denied prescribed medication, lawsuit says. The story is entirely sourced from a lawsuit filed by the parents.
Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto entered the United States in 2024 after fleeing Venezuela, where they say they faced persecution for their political opposition to President Nicolás Maduro, according to the lawsuit. During their journey north, Valero Marcano gave birth to Amalia in Mexico.
They applied for asylum through the government-run appointment system CBP One, and immigration authorities allowed the family to live in El Paso while their case moved forward. According to the lawsuit, they checked in regularly with immigration officials and complied with all requirements, including participation in an alternative-to-detention monitoring program.
That changed on Dec. 11, when the family reported together for a check-in and was taken into custody, according to the lawsuit. Two days later, they were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a sprawling complex an hour south of San Antonio, more than 500 miles from the community where they had been living.
Once inside Dilley, the parents say their daughter’s health deteriorated quickly. In early January, Amalia developed a high fever that would not break. She began vomiting, had diarrhea and struggled to breathe.
What did DHS do?
This entire story is a lie.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 9, 2026
We provide COMPREHENSIVE medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days, and… pic.twitter.com/jOwKDC6Dbw
This entire story is a lie.
We provide COMPREHENSIVE medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. Candidly, this is the best healthcare many aliens have received in their entire lives.
On December 9, 2025, ICE took Kheilin Valero Marcano, Stiven Arrieta Prieto, and their daughter Amalia Arrieta-Valero into custody, and they were detained at the Dilley Facility that is retrofitted for families. During their time in detention, Amalia Arrieta-Valero became ill with a respiratory illness. She IMMEDIATELY received proper medical care and was admitted to the Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for treatment. She remained in the hospital for eight days before being cleared for release by a pediatric doctor and returned to the Dilley facility — where she was in the medical unit and received proper treatment and prescribed medicines.
Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all parents to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App to receive $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport.
Yes, the child was hospitalized at government expense. The child was treated, recovered, and then returned to the detention facility. The parents claim, without evidence, that the child was denied medicine. The fact seems to be that the parents were not allowed to keep the medications themselves but had to wait in a line daily to get the kid's dose. It was a terrible inconvenience. The fact that detainees and prisoners aren't allowed to maintain stocks of pharmaceuticals, or that the baby's medicines were best administered under medical supervision, seems lost on the reporter.
Another story that has gotten media play is that of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained when his father was picked up. The father tried to run away and was apprehended. His mother was inside the home and refused to open the door. So, the ICE agents had two choices: take the kid with them or leave him outside. I can imagine the uproar if they'd just walked off and left the kid. This has now become a cause célèbre for those convinced that ICE is meany-pants to illegals.
The hot story now is Seamus Culleton, an Irishman, because, of course, he is, who is now in detention in Texas. By the way, Texas is in the Fifth Circuit, which just ruled this week that there is no right to bond or parole from immigration detention; see Trump Wins Big As 5th Circuit Upholds Indefinite Detention Without Bond for Illegal Immigrants – RedState. Culleton makes a more sympathetic figure. He came in as a tourist in 2009 and decided to stay. He has a business, he's married to an American citizen, and applied for a green card in April 2025. For the record, while all the articles give us the timeline of his arrest and detention, none of them tell us when he got married. That would seem to be a critical bit of information if you're pulling the "married to an American citizen" card.
Where the story breaks down is that our boy Seamus came in under the Visa Waiver Program, which allows expedited entry not to exceed 90 days without obtaining a non-immigrant visa. In exchange for expedited entry, VWP recipients waive the right to contest any action for removal, with the exception of application for asylum, which he admits he was/is not seeking.
You can't escape the subtext of the story, which is "these heartless MAGAs don't care about brown people, but they'll jump all over this story about a White guy who speaks English."
While I might agree that Seamus is more sympathetic than the murderer from El Salvador, but being here 16 years and only applying for residency when the immigration enforcement train leaves the station makes me see him as pretty much the same as the guy down at the Home Depot parking lot.
These stories are running because of a perfect storm of three events. It all starts with Trump and the rampant TDS in the media. Many of those media, much like some of our Olympic athletes, don't like America and believe that our culture should be crushed out, and the best way to do that is through untrammeled waves of Third World immigration. Finally, some of the more discerning understand what happens to the Democrats if the 10 or so million illegals currently in the U.S. are not here for the 2030 Census. So they want that large, captive population to stay right where it is.
I want them all gone. Once exceptions start being made based on one-off stories, the whole effort falls apart. And once the media discovers that these stories aren't moving the needle, they'll stop writing them.
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