Washington Post reporter Robert Barnes reported Friday that a deadlocked Supreme Court handed Obama a huge defeat: “President Obama suffered the biggest legal defeat of his administration Thursday when a deadlocked Supreme Court failed to revive his stalled plan to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation and give them the right to work legally in the United States.”
But this was the large headline: “Plan to shield illegal aliens suffers loss.” There was a much smaller subhead “Split vote affirms ruling that Obama exceeded powers.”
The photos were also tilted: A distraught “Rosario Reyes of El Salvador” was hugged by a man in a CASA de Maryland T-shirt on the front page, and on A-10 there was another color photo, captioned “Immigrant rights advocates, workers’ unions and allied organizations join with immigrant families on the steps of the Freedom Tower in Miami.”
Barnes put the “crushed hopes” of illegal aliens in the third paragraph:
The court’s action crushed the hopes of about 4 million illegal immigrants estimated to be covered by Obama’s plan, which would have deferred deportation for those who have been in the country since 2010, have not committed any serious crimes and have family ties to U.S. citizens or others lawfully in the country.
Obama’s anguish over the retracted "shield" began in the fifth paragraph, still on the front page. But the views of Obama critics didn’t emerge until deep on page A-10 in paragraph 18, with Trump slamming it as “one of the most unconstitutional actions ever undertaken by a president.”
The headline inside was “Obama’s plan to shield illegal immigrants won’t be revived.” Above the t headline was a Hillary Clinton quote, in bold italics: “We should be doing everything possible under the law to provide them relief from the specter of deportation.”
This incredibly overt sympathy with law-breakers contined on the front of Friday’s Metro section with huge color photos of an illegal mother and her U.S-born children and the headline (all caps) “FOR IMMIGRANTS, DEADLOCK WAS DEFEAT.” “Rosario Reyes, 38, an undocumented immigrant” was quoted was in bold italics above the large headline: “This is something we had in our hands, and they took it away.”
Reporters Antonio Olivo and Pamela Constable filled an entire story with disappointed illegal aliens and their advocates – and absolutely nothing from critics of Obama or his amnesty schemes. Inside, over two more sympathetic photos of home life, was the headline “Supreme Court deadlock dashes the hopes of millions of illegal immigrants.” Korean immigrant Tsogtsaikhan Bati said in bold italics under that headline ”It just seems like they’re toying with people’s lives.”
Olivo and Constable highlighted the "undocumented" taking political action, "vowing to help register voters for the November election."
PS: The New York Times also used the “shield” word in its front-page headline Friday: “SPLIT COURT STIFLES OBAMA ON IMMIGRATION: A 9-Word Ruling Erases a Shield for Millions.” The inner headline also lamented the court’s “Blocking Plan to Shield Millions.”
Reporters Adam Liptak and Michael Shear also larded the front-page with quotes from liberals, and didn’t turn to Texas attorney general Ken Paxton until paragraph 14.
