Networks Bemoan ‘Fear,’ ‘Rising Tensions’ in Charlotte Over ICE Raids

On Monday morning, the major broadcast networks threw a pity party for illegal immigrants living in the Charlotte, North Carolina area and gripping with “fear” and “rising tensions” as the Trump administration launched Operation Charlotte’s Web over the weekend.

In a tease, NBC’s Today co-host Savannah Guthrie knocked Charlotte as having experienced “southern discomfort” with “[f]ederal agents making dozens of arrests in Charlotte over the weekend, the newest flash point in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.”

Guthrie also committed one of the oldest pieces of liberal media bias, refusing to give party ID (Democrat) as she boasted “North Carolina’s governor condemn[ed] the tactics.”

She later cued up correspondent Ryan Chandler by citing “mounting tensions” in the Queen City with Chandler fretting “[i]t was a weekend of protests and some public clashes between Charlotte residents and Border Patrol agents who have been making swift arrests across the city” with local officials unsure of “what Border Patrol may plan to do next.”

Chandler took the side of poor illegal aliens, hook, line and sinker:

 

Chandler barely mentioned any support for or defense of the raids: “The Department of Homeland Security says the mission is about public safety, blaming sanctuary policies for releasing people on immigration detainers. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said among those arrested are violent criminals and people with removal orders.”

He tossed a softball at the pastor of a Hispanic church seeing empty seats: “What are you hearing from your community today?”

The emotional pastor replied: “There’s a lot of people in fear right now. They’re scared about — to go and — because the situation right now and — yeah, it has been tough. It’s been rough this weekend.”

Chandler concluded by planting more seeds of fear:

Now, a big question on a lot of parent’s minds this morning, what might this mean as kids head back to school? Well, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Districts tell us they do plan to operate normally, saying that they’ve been given no official notice that Border Patrol plans to operate on their properties.

ABC’s Good Morning America wasn’t going to be left out. Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos bragged in his own tease of “[f]ierce pushback as Customs and Border Patrol agents descend on Charlotte, North Carolina.”

Correspondent Faith Abubey was on scene to insist “North Carolina’s largest city is waking up on edge with the surge of Border Patrol agents here on the ground...striking fear and some backlash here in this community.”

 

 

“This morning, dozens of people rounded up in an immigration crackdown in Charlotte, North Carolina. Customs and Border Patrol [sic] agents descending on the city...Masked agents seen here smashing this car window, ordering the man inside to get out. The man, Willie Aceituno, telling our affiliate WSOC he was stopped twice Saturday morning but was released both times after showing proof he’s a U.S. citizen,” she added.

Abubey, however, was the only network correspondent to mention Department of Homeland Security’s pushback on the worship of Aceituno, arguing “he was,” in Abubey’s summation, “interferring with their operation.”

She also stuck up for illegals by citing a New York Times investigation (click “expand”):

Throughout the administration crackdown across the country, officials say they’re targeting individuals with criminal records, “the worst of the worst.” But federal data obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request lawsuit and published by The New York Times show fewer than 40 percent of those detained by ICE, which is leading DHS’s nationwide crackdown, had criminal convictions. Roughly eight percent have been convicted of a violent crime. Overnight, a DHS spokesperson insisting the stats are “horrendously misleading” and that the majority of those arrested by ICE “have convictions or pending criminal charges.”

And, Robin, agents detained at least 80 people over the weekend. There were protests but no major clashes between the agents and the community. DHS hasn’t said exactly how long the operation will last, but sources tell ABC News it could be short and New Orleans, another Democrat led city maybe next[.]

Finally, CBS Mornings started their coverage with co-host Gayle King emphasizing “the raids” having faced “protests and objections from local leaders in the city that prides itself on welcoming immigrants.”

Correspondent Skyler Henry was CBS’s man on the ground and featured sound from one activist who unintentionally gave away the game illegal immigrants play by flocking to the U.S. to have children and thus demand be allowed to stay (click “expand”):

HENRY: Federal immigration agents swept across Charlotte over the weekend, from landscaping gigs to shopping centers, arresting 81 people on Saturday alone. And, yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security said a U.S. citizen drove a large van at law enforcement mid operation, ramming cars and injuring an officer before he was arrested.”

PROTESTERS: Abolish ICE! Abolish ICE!

HENRY: Immigration raids drew protests in a strongly Democratic city where around 18 percent of residents were born outside the U.S.

CARLOS MAGÑA: A lot of friends and acquaintances who said that they’re not going out. They’re having their kids who are citizens go and pick up their — their clothes and food for them.

HENRY: Customs and Border Protection Chief of Patrol Gregory Bovino uploaded photos of several people who were apprehended, claiming they are in the country illegally and outlining their alleged criminal histories.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a citizen!

HENRY: But in videos posted online, some who were detained said they do have legal status. [WINDOW SMASHED] That includes Willie Aceituno, who was filming as federal agents broke a window of his truck before detaining him Saturday even though he said he was a citizen. “they threw me to the ground and I always have my papers with me in my bag,” he said. “They didn’t care. I told them many times.” Once the agents did look at his documents, Aceituno said he was allowed to walk back to his car.

Like Chandler refused to denote Governor Stein as a Democrat, Henry played two soundbites of Mecklenburg County Board Commissioners Chairman Mark Jerrell, but left out he’s a Democrat.

To see the relevant transcripts from November 17, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).