The “first wave” of the long caravan of Central American migrants first arrived at the U.S./Mexico border on Wednesday and as CBS Evening News reported that evening, they were “straining the resources” Tijuana. It wasn’t until Sunday’s Good Morning America that ABC acknowledged the caravan’s arrival. And in doing so, they downplayed the pressure it was putting on the city and its overall effect, while whining about it having too much influence during the 2018 midterm elections.
“We do have new developments this morning in a story that played a truly outsized role in the most recent campaign, the so-called caravan,” co-anchor Dan Harried complained. “Some 3,000 migrants from Central America have now reached the Mexican side of the border with California with many, many more expected to arrive.”
Showing no concern for the people of Tijuana, who had an uninvited caravan stream into their city and put a strain on their resources, Harris fretted for the migrants:
The migrants, who are seeking asylum in the U.S., have been setting up camp at an outdoor sports facility in the city of Tijuana. Some say they've been viciously attacked by the locals there. And the situation could get more tense as the number of migrants taking refuge in that city could reach 10,000.
Of course, there was no mention of those in the caravan breaking U.S. immigration laws.
According to CBS correspondent John Blackstone who was on the border with the migrants on Wednesday, he witnessed migrants “looking through the barricade and some of them climbing it, teasing the Border Patrol on the other side. A few have even jumped, including today, a woman carrying a baby.”
“As many as 4,000 migrants are expected to arrive in Tijuana as soon as tomorrow. But with shelters in Tijuana already overflowing, even this first wave is straining the resources in this city of 2.5 million,” Blackstone added.
Instead of reporting on the caravan’s arrival on Wednesday, ABC White House correspondent Cecilia Vega huffed about President Trump’s silence on the issue since Election Day. Vega suggested Trump was stepping away from his “fear-mongering message.”
Also on Wednesday, NBC Nightly News also ignored the arrival of the caravan with NBC Pentagon correspondent Hans Nichols asserting “the caravan of migrants and refugees” was “still one week away from Tijuana.” Yet, just three days later, on Saturday’s edition of Today, co-anchor Sheinelle Jones reported that “hundreds of migrants have arrived at the border.”
The transcript is below:
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 18, 2018
8:13:09 a.m. EasternDAN HARRIS: We do have new developments this morning in a story that played a truly outsized role in the most recent campaign, the so-called caravan. Some 3,000 migrants from Central America have now reached the Mexican side of the border with California with many, many more expected to arrive. The migrants, who are seeking asylum in the U.S., have been setting up camp at an outdoor sports facility in the city of Tijuana. Some say they've been viciously attacked by the locals there. And the situation could get more tense as the number of migrants taking refuge in that city could reach 10,000.
EVA PILGRIM: Goodness.
