Late Tuesday, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Emmett Sullivan ruled the border policy Title 42 put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic will be ended, triggering what is likely to be another tsunami of illegal immigrants flooding across the U.S.-Mexico border and a further strain on border towns. Not surprisingly, the liberal networks showed little interest with CBS and NBC ignoring it on their Tuesday night and Wednesday morning news shows.
ABC’s Good Morning America was the only flagship network newscast to cover the impending flood. In the lead-up to the one-minute-and-15-second report from correspondent Mireya Villarreal, host Robin Roberts said Sullivan “[struck] down a Trump-era order could lead to thousands more potential asylum seekers entering the country” with border towns “bracing for the influx.”
Villarreal called this “definitely a big deal” as, even with Title 42 having been in place, we’ve still been “seeing a record number of migrant encounters along the southern border and our sources are worried this could create another surge of people seeking asylum.”
She noted the Biden administration had planned to end the policy in May and claimed they were prepared to do so (before being blocked from pulling the trigger), “but now they're asking for a five-week hold on this judge's ruling to better prepare.”
“Now, I have spoken with a number of community officials and nonprofit organizations along the border. They are bracing for another increase of migrants. In fact, overnight, the City of El Paso saying they are asking the federal government for more money to keep their migrant facility open in anticipation of another surge,” she concluded.
ABC’s lesser overnight show also covered it with a 23-second brief on America This Morning. Co-host Rhiannon Ally said the rule “denied some migrants the right to seek asylum on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID” and had recently been “us[ed]...to expel some Venezuelan migrants.”
Also on the obscure, overnight news front, CBS Morning News had a 29-second brief with host Anne-Marie Green that detailed Sullivan calling Title 42's usage “arbitrary and capricious” that broke federal law.
In contrast, the Fox News Channel’s Special Report had a full report with two minutes and 51 seconds going to the border crisis. Host Bret Baier also shared the decision ignored by all three broadcast networks of “Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott...invoking invasion clauses of the U.S. and state constitutions over illegal immigration at the southern border.”
Congressional correspondent Aishah Hasnie had more on Sullivan’s ruling and a key House hearing featuring DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (click “expand”):
HASNIE: And tonight, CBP sources are telling FOX News that they are bracing for a rush at the southern border as a federal judge just ruled federal authorities must stop using Title 42 to quickly expel migrants. That judge calling the order, which, by the way, allows expulsions on the basis of public health, “arbitrary and capricious.” This, of course, is adding more pressure on a department already under fire.
CONGRESSMAN JAKE LATURNER (R-KS): Have you had discussions with the President or anyone in the Biden administration about stepping down from your current role?
DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: I have not.
HASNIE: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas facing questions about his future at a hearing today on Capitol Hill, his first public appearance since forcing his Customs and Border Protection commissioner Chris Magnus to resign. Republicans accuse Mayorkas of making Magnus the fall guy for Biden’s broken border policies.
(....)
HASNIE: The hearing comes amid staggering new CBP numbers showing more than 230,000 migrants controlled the border last month, enough people to fill Yankee Stadium about four times. CBP sources October averaged about 2,000 got-aways every single day, people who slipped into the country without a trace.
(....)
HASNIE: And Bret, when it came to border security, Director Wray basically threw the ball back into Congress’ court, telling lawmakers to pass a budget and pass immigration reform. Bret?
Instead of covering the border crisis, CBS Mornings spend time on the fate of the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau and NBC’s Today spent a whopping three minutes and 59 seconds on a new viral trend showing a further decline in humanity: fully taping your mouth shut when you go to bed.
The nonsense and bias by omission on CBS and NBC was brought to you by advertisers such as Ensure (on CBS) and Progressive (on NBC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from November 16, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 16, 2022
7:14 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: New This Morning; Judge Strikes Down Pandemic-Era Border Policy; Border Cities Brace for Influx of Asylum Seekers]
ROBIN ROBERTS: Now to the migrant crisis at our southern border. A federal judge's ruling striking down a Trump-era order could lead to thousands more potential asylum seekers entering the country. Cities near the border are bracing for the influx. Mireya Villareal is in Dallas with much more on this. Good morning.
MIREYA VILLARREAL: Hey, good morning, Robin. This is definitely a big deal. Title 42 is a health law that was actually used by the Trump administration to slow the flow of migrants during the pandemic, but the Biden administration continue to use this policy over the last several years. Right now, we are seeing a record number of migrant encounters along the southern border and our sources are worried this could create another surge of people seeking asylum. Now, earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security said it was preparing for the end of this policy, but now they're asking for a five-week hold on this judge's ruling to better prepare. Now, I have spoken with a number of community officials and nonprofit organizations along the border. They are bracing for another increase of migrants. In fact, overnight, the City of El Paso saying they are asking the federal government for more money to keep their migrant facility open in anticipation of another surge. Guys?
ROBERTS: Alright, Mireya, thank you so much.
