ABC’s coverage of the Biden border crisis extended into their flagship evening newscast on Wednesday evening with CBS joining them this time. NBC still appeared to have no interest in covering this international crisis. While ABC’s World News Tonight managed to give considerable airtime to the crisis, not once was Biden or his administration mentioned. NBC Nightly News completely ignored the Biden induced crisis.
NBC’s Lester Holt was too busy reporting on a recall of Kraft cheese slices to care about the United States being overrun with migrants.
World News Tonight anchor David Muir reported at the top of the segment there’s “anger over the migrant crisis in this country.” In New York City, on Staten Island, that anger boiling over. Protesters pinned down, multiple arrests,” Muir noted. “And it's not just New York. Multiple states tonight.”
Correspondent Matt Rivers added that “from New York, to Illinois, to Arizona, states overwhelmed, buses arriving daily. In San Diego County, border patrol forced to release about 4,000 migrants in just the past week. Processing centers and shelters filled to capacity. Many dropped off at places like this bus stop.”
Only adding to the crisis, Rivers reported “one of the main international bridges from Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas, has been temporarily closed on the U.S. side to vehicle traffic, as officials there work to deal with this spike in migrant crossings.”
Meanwhile on CBS Evening News, fill-in anchor James Brown kicked off the newscast “with the unfolding crisis at the southern border.”
“Migrant crossings are soaring, posing yet another major test for the Biden administration's border strategy,” Brown reported frankly.
“Apprehensions at the border are topping more than 8,000 a day overwhelming the already crowded migrant facility from San Diego to southern Texas. Where one border town has issued an emergency declaration,” Brown added.
Showing how this crisis has national implications, Brown reported that “the ripple effect is felt nationwide from Los Angeles to New York where more than 110,000 asylum-seekers have arrived since last spring pushing some of the country's biggest cities to a breaking point.”
The transcripts are below:
ABC’s World News Tonight
9/20/2023
6:37:09 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Now, to the anger over the migrant crisis in this country. In New York City, on Staten Island, that anger boiling over. Protesters pinned down, multiple arrests. And it's not just New York. Multiple states tonight. And just this evening, what's now playing out at the border. ABC's Matt Rivers on the border in California tonight.
MATT RIVERS: Tonight, tensions high across the country. Police pinning protesters down in New York City, arresting ten people on Staten Island, many outraged over the influx of migrants into the city. From New York, to Illinois, to Arizona, states overwhelmed, buses arriving daily. In San Diego County, border patrol forced to release about 4,000 migrants in just the past week. Processing centers and shelters filled to capacity. Many dropped off at places like this bus stop. Local officials frustrated, demanding action from Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED LOCAL OFFICIAL: This isn't a political situation, this is not a left or right issue. This is an immigration system that has failed. As a county, we're not resourced to handle this many people coming in.
RIVERS: Lourdes Gutierrez arrived here two days ago from Ecuador. She says she's escaping violence and extortion there. Basically, they can't exist because of all that crime. Lourdes, like so many here, making the dangerous journey. Down the border in Texas, new drone video showing a crush of migrants crossing the Rio Grande River into Eagle Pass, where today, officials declared a state of emergency. And hundreds more are coming. Hundreds of migrants today on top of this freight train riding for miles to Ciudad Juarez just across the border from El Paso. Braving the danger, just one day after Mexican authorities temporarily suspended train operations after several migrant deaths.
And David, we just learned that one of the main international bridges from Mexico into Eagle Pass, Texas, has been temporarily closed on the U.S. side to vehicle traffic, as officials there work to deal with this spike in migrant crossings. David?
CBS Evening News
9/20/2023
6:32:18 p.m. EasternJAMES BROWN: We begin tonight with the unfolding crisis at the southern border. Migrant crossings are soaring, posing yet another major test for the Biden administration's border strategy. Apprehensions at the border are topping more than 8,000 a day overwhelming the already crowded migrant facility from San Diego to southern Texas. Where one border town has issued an emergency declaration. And this just in, U.S. Border officials are closing a busy bridge in Eagle Pass due to the spike. The governor of Texas tonight announcing he will send more National Guard to the border. The ripple effect is felt nationwide from Los Angeles to New York where more than 110,000 asylum-seekers have arrived since last spring pushing some of the country's biggest cities to a breaking point.
