CNN has found a way to squeeze in some anti-ICE propaganda into their coverage of the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela, and place blame on them for some of the casualties. On Wednesday’s OutFront, the network highlighted a story of woman in Caracas who was recently deported there “just hours before the tremors started.” Of course, the implication was that without ICE booting her from the country, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt and the others deported with her wouldn’t be missing.
“We've also learned now that more than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. just hours before the quake struck had been taken to a hotel not far from the epicenter, that hotel collapsed,” announced fill-in host Erica Hill.
CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon pointed to the story of Ninoska Gutierrez, who was deported from the United States late last month and was trapped under rubble before freeing herself:
She said she escaped miraculously with just minor injuries, scrapes and bruises, slipping from under the rubble and walking for two miles before finding help. But this latest tragedy, part of an endless list of blows. She fled Venezuela's economic crisis in 2018, and had been living in Minnesota as an undocumented immigrant since 2024.
“Scared by the unrest in Minneapolis, she moved to Miami, where after an incident with her daughter, she was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and transferred to ICE custody,” Pozzebon lamented.
CNN decries ICE for deporting illegal Venezuelan immigrants back home just before the earthquakes hit. Hints they should be held responsible responsible for them when out of their custody. pic.twitter.com/Yvw4wIVs3C
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 2, 2026
At no point did Pozzebon actually explain what the “incident with her daughter” entailed that got her “charged with a misdemeanor.” Given CNN’s caginess with the facts, there’s a possibility that “charged” actually means “convicted.”
After playing a soundbite of Gutierrez proclaiming “The U.S. administration really made a mess with the migrants,” Pozzebon’s report painted a picture of the illegal immigrant surviving hellish conditions in ICE custody just to be put in harm’s way:
GUTIERREZ: I was held for seven days in the worst conditions you can imagine. They treat us like animals.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Deported on June 24, she and other 145 migrants landed in Caracas just hours before the tremors began.
GUTIERREZ: They took our handcuff off. Thank God, because finally I was going to be free.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Gutierrez and the others were in this hotel when the walls began to shake, the floor crumbling under her feet.
POZZEBON: I mean, when you got out of there, what did you see?
GUTIERREZ: I couldn't believe it. I don't know if I was conscious or not. Everything was so fast, and I asked God, why did you allow this?
POZZEBON (voice-over): Venezuelan authorities are yet to say how many of the 146 deportees died in the earthquake. Many are still missing.
To make ICE look heartless, Pozzebon followed up the line about the missing illegals with a cherry-picked quote from an ICE statement about how, “When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, the agency is no longer responsible for them.”
Counter point: if she didn’t enter America illegally or commit a misdemeanor, she wouldn’t have been deported.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s OutFront
July 1, 2026
7:53:42 p.m. EasternERICA HILL: We've also learned now that more than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the U.S. just hours before the quake struck had been taken to a hotel not far from the epicenter, that hotel collapsed.
Our Stefano Pozzebon just spoke with one of the survivors. He's OUTFRONT now in Venezuela.
[Cuts to video]
STEFANO POZZEBON (voice-over): It's been a week since a double earthquake devastated Venezuela. But for Ninoska Gutierrez, the pain feels very fresh.
NINOSKA GUTIERREZ (via translator]: My legs were straight, but I had a beam on top of me, trapping me. I couldn't feel my legs.
POZZEBON (voice-over): She said she escaped miraculously with just minor injuries, scrapes and bruises, slipping from under the rubble and walking for two miles before finding help. But this latest tragedy, part of an endless list of blows. She fled Venezuela's economic crisis in 2018, and had been living in Minnesota as an undocumented immigrant since 2024.
GUTIERREZ: This year, two U.S. citizens died for defending us. The U.S. administration really made a mess with the migrants.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Scared by the unrest in Minneapolis, she moved to Miami, where after an incident with her daughter, she was arrested, charged with a misdemeanor, and transferred to ICE custody.
GUTIERREZ: I was held for seven days in the worst conditions you can imagine. They treat us like animals.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Deported on June 24, she and other 145 migrants landed in Caracas just hours before the tremors began.
GUTIERREZ: They took our handcuff off. Thank God, because finally I was going to be free.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Gutierrez and the others were in this hotel when the walls began to shake, the floor crumbling under her feet.
POZZEBON: I mean, when you got out of there, what did you see?
GUTIERREZ: I couldn't believe it. I don't know if I was conscious or not. Everything was so fast, and I asked God, why did you allow this?
POZZEBON (voice-over): Venezuelan authorities are yet to say how many of the 146 deportees died in the earthquake. Many are still missing.
In a statement to CNN, ICE said that, “When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, the agency is no longer responsible for them.”
At home, Gutierrez is somehow trying to rebuild her life. She reconnected with her daughter, Oriana, a daughter she had not seen in four years. And in signs that life goes on, despite a tragedy, her niece has just given birth to a healthy baby.
