In discussing how Univision reports on immigration, we often point out the differences in how they cover the issue versus how immigration is covered on other networks. We’ve often characterized Univision as an activist network. And recently, the network aired some of its most egregious pro-immigration propaganda to date.
Take notice of this exchange between a Univision producer and three unaccompanied minors who had just arrived at Sasabe, Arizona:
REPORTER: Are you taking care of them?
ALAN PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: Why are you taking care of them?
PONCE: Because they told me to.
REPORTER: And do you think you're old enough to take care of them?
PONCE: No.
VILCHEZ: At six years old, little Ashley told us how she felt.
ASHLEY PONCE: My mother left and the one she left in charge of us was my brother. I obey him a lot. Because he is my brother - I obey him a lot because he is very big.
REPORTER: Do you love your brother very much?
PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: We must pay attention to him. Do you want to see your mom now?
PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: What do you want to tell your mom?
PONCE: That I love her. She had never broken my heart.
REPORTER: Did she break (your heart)? Why?
PONCE: Because she left.
VILCHEZ: Is there some quote from your daughter that touches you most deeply?
JIMENEZ: Yes. That I broke her heart by leaving them.
Heart-rending stuff. This is what Univision viewers are shown when immigration is discussed. Cute kids coming unaccompanied across the border, or intact families. You NEVER see, except for that one time where Univision reported on the ongoing influx of Chinese migrants, coverage of the legions of single, fighting-age men coming over the border.
Also, it is worth noting the conveniently-placed news crew at the border. Pair that with the correspondent sitting in the living room with the children’s mother, and a reasonable person can infer that this was staged and not at all organic.
The story itself is pretty straightforward. Mom in Mexico leaves her children behind, tried sending for them, entrusted them to her mother who refused to send them over, then handed them off to a cousin. Who fell ill and handed them off to coyotes or something. So these kids are floating around the border badlands and they’re about get a TV camera shoved in their faces.
Meanwhile, mom is sitting in her living room in New Jersey with a correspondent who is showing her fresh video of her kids at the border. Ergo, the “broken heart” moment. This manipulative migrant storytelling, intended to generate sympathies towards migrants and support of the current policy, is designed to conceal what actually happens at the border, and aired at the expense of actual news.
Rather than news, our communities are subjected to propaganda.
Click “Expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on Noticiero Univision on Monday, February 26th, 2024:
ELIAN ZIDAN: We begin this evening with an exclusive. This weekend, in Arizona, three minor siblings were found walking alone along the southern border after being abandoned by a coyote who also helped them cross into the United States.
ILIA CALDERÓN: And Univisión, Elián, was the only media that spoke with them and was able to accompany them until the Border Patrol arrived. Blanca Rosa Vílchez contacted the children's mother in New Jersey and through tears told her that she’s counting the hours until she sees them and hugs them.
ADELFA JIMÉNEZ: Not having come without them. That's what I would have changed. Not having come without them.
BLANCA ROSA VÍLCHEZ: It was a decision she will always regret, says Adelfa Jiménez, to let her children, ages 9, 6, and 3, cross the border alone to join her and her husband in the United States.
Why did they cross alone?
JIMENEZ: Because in Mexico, my mother is elderly. I told my mother: “bring my children. I will support you- we’ll support you with money.” Bring my children. My mom said no.
VILCHEZ: So after not seeing them for a year, they decided to have them brought over by a cousin.
JIMÉNEZ: He hurt his foot and returned to Mexico, and just left them in the care of a group.
VILCHEZ: Adelfa lost contact with them…
Let's watch it together then...
…until this video recorded by the Univision team at the border allowed her to see them in Sasabe, Arizona.
REPORTER: Are you taking care of them?
ALAN PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: Why are you taking care of them?
PONCE: Because they told me to.
REPORTER: And do you think you're old enough to take care of them?
PONCE: No.
VILCHEZ: At six years old, little Ashley told us how she felt.
ASHLEY PONCE: My mother left and the one she left in charge of us was my brother. I obey him a lot. Because he is my brother - I obey him a lot because he is very big.
REPORTER: Do you love your brother very much?
PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: We must pay attention to him. Do you want to see your mom now?
PONCE: Yes.
REPORTER: What do you want to tell your mom?
PONCE: That I love her. Shehad never broken my heart.
REPORTER: Did she break (your heart)? Why?
PONCE: Because she left.
VILCHEZ: Is there some quote from your daughter that touches you most deeply?
JIMENEZ: Yes.That I broke her heart by leaving them.
VILCHEZ: During the last conversation with her eldest son three days ago, he told her that they were with immigration agents. Customs and Border Protection told us they cannot comment on specific cases.
JIMENEZ: (holding items of clothing) I'm going to see them wearing this, that's what excites me the most.
VILCHEZ: For now, the only thing that encourages her is the hope of preparing for the reunion.
JIMENEZ: (praying) what I ask of you, I have always asked you for my children.
VILCHEZ: And to have faith that she will see them soon.
JIMENEZ: I'm going to cry a lot, but with joy, because I know that they are going to be with me because we are going to form the family that they deserve.
VILCHEZ: In Manahawkin, New Jersey, Blanca Rosa Vílchez, Univision.
