Kerby Anderson

One example of media malpractice has been the reporting of deportations. Some call it dishonest. Others call it “fake news.” At the very least, it is an unwillingness to provide context to the deportations that have been taking years before President Trump came into office. The Washington Post headline says that the “Immigrant Community on High Alert, Fearing Trump’s Deportation Force.” Mother Jones warned that: “The Trump Deportation Regime Has Begun.” The headlines were pointing to the actions by Federal immigration officials who during one weekend arrested 683 people. The Secretary of Homeland Security explained that more than 75 percent of those arrested had been charged with crimes ranging from homicides to sexual assault. You might not know that from the agitated headlines of people being deported. These arrests were of criminal illegal immigrants who had done much more than just illegally cross the border. What was also missing from the reports was context. That is why ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) decided to do the job that many media outlets would not do. They provided a series of tweets to counter what they felt were irresponsible reports. One tweet reminded Americans that 75 percent had criminal records. In another tweet, they did a “Throwback Thursday” to remind people that in April 2012 (under President Obama) that: “ICE arrested more than 3,168 convicted criminal aliens & immigration fugitives.” It is worth mentioning that by 2012, President Obama was becoming known as the “Deporter in Chief.” Do you remember similar agitated headlines in the newspapers when Obama was president? I don’t. It sure seems to me that many in the media used these stories to demonize Trump as a racist trying to roundup and deport anyone on the street.