The arrest of a repeat DUI offender is usually not controversial, except on Telemundo.
Of all cases, Telemundo recently picked just such an offender to portray instead as the ‘victim’ of ruthless ICE officers who dared arrest Carlos Urrutia following his appearance in court for his third DUI offense, in which he crashed his car into a 20-year-old woman, causing her a traumatic brain injury.
JULIO VAQUEIRO, ANCHOR, NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO: ICE continues detaining immigrants without documents. In many cases it does so in an aggressive way, as in the case of this Mexican.
VOICES OF ICE OFFICERS AND COMPANIONS OF CARLOS URRUTIA
VAQUEIRO: What you see happened in a Minnesota court, and as you can appreciate, the officers were dressed in civilian clothes with nothing in sight to identify them.
Carlos Enrique Urrutia, whose criminal record includes two previous DUI’s in addition to past domestic violence charges, was apprehended in court for federal immigration law violations by ICE officials simply fulfilling their duty to uphold the laws of the land. Yet in a video provided to Telemundo by the Democrat-aligned group Think Progress, it was the agents, who were harassed by Urrutia’s family members and companions, who were presented as the villains.
Telemundo’s report on the arrest not only hid from viewers the full extent of Urrutia’s criminal record (only mentioning his latest DUI charge at the very end of the report) but also made it seem that the officers never identified themselves (when the full video shows they did) and that they were somehow in the wrong for not showing an arrest warrant (they do not have to in public places, like courthouses).
As even Minnesota Public Radio acknowledged in their report on the arrest, “there's no indication ICE agents violated protocol or any rules of behavior inside the courthouse as they arrested Urrutia.” However, when a suspect or his companions, as in the case of Urrutia, attempts to disrupt an arrest, it only stands to reason that the arrest will become more “aggressive” to use Telemundo’s term.
ICE officers are fully authorized to arrest immigration offenders in courthouses; they are also not required to be uniformed at all times. Under current policy, immigration officers are only directed to avoid enforcement activities at sensitive locations such as places of worship, schools, and hospitals. Courthouses are obviously not included on that list.
Below is the complete transcript of the above mentioned report as aired on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 in Noticias Telemundo.
JULIO VAQUEIRO, ANCHOR, NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO: ICE continues detaining immigrants without documents. In many cases it does so in an aggressive way, as in the case of this Mexican.
VOICES OF ICE OFFICERS AND COMPANIONS OF CARLOS URRUTIA
VAQUEIRO: What you see happened in a Minnesota court, and as you can appreciate, the officers were dressed in civilian clothes with nothing in sight to identify them. They didn't present a court order either. The detainee’s relatives chased them to the elevator, demanded the documents, but they answered by pushing and threatening to file charges of aggression against them. The judge had just awarded parole to the migrant for a DUI case.
