As the Supreme Court prepares to rule over whether Donald Trump had the power to end Barack Obama’s protection of DREAMers, CBS This Morning on Wednesday focused on how this could impact COVID-19. Reporter Jan Crawford also allowed a scant 20 seconds on the legality of the Oama-era move. Co-host Tony Dokoupil stated, “Many so-called Dreamers are waiting to learn their fate while they help protect Americans from the coronavirus.”
Crawford defended, “As the Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling, Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security department in the Obama administration, defends the measure.” She then featured Napolitano: “In reality, the DACA program does not change any existing law. And because it is lawful, the administration's attempt to rescind it was done improperly.”
The segment allowed just 20 seconds for the opposition. Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies briefly contended:
The issue in this case is who gets to make the immigration laws, the elected representatives to the people in Congress or the unelected Secretary of Homeland Security? And that's the principle that the Trump administration's fighting for in this case.
A MRC study in 2017 looked back at how the media spun for Obama’s original executive order:
In November of 2014, when Obama went against his previous stance that he did not have the constitutional authority to issue an Executive Order on illegal immigration, CBS and NBC carried the water for Obama. On November 19, 2014, CBS and NBC actually promoted the White House talking point that previous presidential actions on immigration gives President Barack Obama the proper legal authority to enact executive amnesty the evening before a prime time address to the nation on the topic. At no point during the coverage on either network did their reporters mention that this justification is being used despite the President’s previous assertions that he did not have the proper legal means to carry out any sort of mass-reaching executive order on illegal immigration.
The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley began its coverage with a report from CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett who noted this White House argument before moving on to the expected specifics of the executive order: “The White House says it has the law and history on its side, that Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and Bush 41 all used executive actions to protect various immigrant groups.”
A transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS This Morning
11/24/2020
7:42 AM ETCBS Graphic: “Dreamers” on the Front Lines: 200k+ DACA recipients working essential jobs wait for SCOTUS ruling
TONY DOKOUPIL: The Supreme Court is set to decide any day now if the Obama-era DACA program will be allowed to stand. DACA protects more than 600,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, protects them from being deported. As Jan Crawford reports, many so-called Dreamers are waiting to learn their fate while they help protect Americans from the coronavirus.
[chanting crowd]
JAN CRAWFORD: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, a key group is on the front lines. Recipients of DACA.
WOMAN: It's really hard to plan when you're on a constant expiration date.
MAN: All 20 years of my education including my medical degree will become useless overnight.
CRAWFORD: More than 200,000 are working in essential jobs, and nearly 30,000 are employed
in the health care system. Like Daniel and Donna, a 27-year-old licensed practical nurse who came from Mexico when he was one. He's now conducting COVID-19 testing in New Mexico.DANIEL: You can see maybe there's a line of cars. It's me and four co-workers doing this.
CRAWFORD: Health care worker Fabiola Dominguez, a mother of three, also came from Mexico when she was 6.
FABIOLA DOMINGUEZ: I work as a pediatric icu nurse. Due to COVID-19, I had to transition into adult icu.
CRAWFORD: As the Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling, Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security department in the Obama administration, defends the measure.
JANET NAPOLITANO: In reality, the DACA program does not change any existing law. And because it is lawful, the administration's attempt to rescind it was done improperly.
CRAWFORD: But former Pennsylvania immigration judge Andrew Arthur says there are strong arguments that DACA is illegal.
ANDREW ARTHUR: The issue in this case is who gets to make the immigration laws, the elected representatives to the people in Congress or the unelected Secretary of Homeland Security? And that's the principle that the Trump administration's fighting for in this case.
CRAWFORD: DACA activist Jose Munoz says if the court sides with the Trump administration, they will continue the fight.
JOSE MUNOZ: I have confidence in the power of organizers to really like fight and move things forward. But it’s important to recognize that it’s hard.
CRAWFORD: Now — [Segment abruptly ends by cutting to weather.]
