On Wednesday’s installment of MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart Reports, the eponymous host and contributor Paola Ramos focused on the rapes and sexual assaults committed by drug cartels against women who seek to make their way to the U.S. border. Instead of using this as an opportunity to warn against making a dangerous journey that will only end with a longshot asylum claim, they used it as an opportunity to dunk on pro-life states such as Texas.
Diaz-Balart introduced the segment by referencing current arguments at the Supreme Court about mifepristone, “The ruling will have consequences nationwide, including at the Southern Border, where a growing number of women and girls have been sexually abused and raped in Mexico on their way to the U.S. Once they cross into Texas, a new country, a new language, they have to navigate the many immigration and abortion laws there.”
After being introduced, Ramos previewed her report, which also aired on Tuesday’s Alex Wagner Tonight, by declaring that “this is a reflection of a larger problem that we're seeing, right? Where there are migrant women that are stepping into the United States with rape-related pregnancies and as they’re then trying to navigate this complicated legal anti-abortion landscape and so the question that we had is: what does that look like, right?”
No, the problem is that those rapes could have been avoided if it was made clear that the journey is extremely dangerous and that your chances of being granted asylum are not high, so do not come to the border. That should be the message, whether one supports or opposes abortion.
Instead, Ramos’s report featured multiple women, including one who lives in Mexico, running an underground abortion pill trafficking operation.
After the report, Ramos, who is the daughter of Univision's Jorge Ramos and a former Hillary Clinton staffer, added, “Jose, that is the unintended consequences of these anti-abortion laws, right, that it drives people to take matters into their own hands. You know, to rely on the underground networks to ensure that women, at the end of the day, get the help that they need.”
Diaz-Balart followed up, “And Paola, just the numbers of people, the doctor in Mexico telling you she’s got about 15,000 people. This is something that is a crisis, and that continues to increase, women being sexually abused, being raped, consistently in Mexico, on their way to the United States, Paola.
Ramos agreed, “When we talk about the humanitarian crisis, Jose, that's exactly what we're talking about. You're right.”
Usually, people like Diaz-Balart and Ramos say the humanitarian crisis is why people are heading to the border, not the journey itself. If they really believe the journey is the crisis, they should be using their platforms to encourage people to stay home, not try to dunk on pro-lifers.
Here is a transcript for the March 27 show:
MSNBC Jose Diaz-Balart Reports
3/27/2024
11:30 AM ET
JOSE DIAZ-BALART: The ruling will have consequences nationwide including at the Southern Border where a growing number of women and girls have been sexually abused and raped in Mexico on their way to the U.S. Once they cross into Texas, a new country, a new language, they have to navigate the many immigration and abortion laws there.
MSNBC contributor Paola Ramos just came back from the border with a special report and she is with us this morning. I know, Paola, you spoke to migrant women who have been sexually assaulted during their journeys to the U.S. and you've spoken to them over the years. What did you learn and how are things different?
PAOLA RAMOS: Well, Jose, as you can imagine, they are horrified. They're traumatized. I spoke to women that had been held by the cartels, some for a week, some for over a month, as they were being sexually abused, but I think, Jose, this is a reflection of a larger problem that we're seeing, right? Where there are migrant women that are stepping into the United States with rape-related pregnancies and as they’re then trying to navigate this complicated legal anti-abortion landscape and so the question that we had is: what does that look like, right? What does post-Roe look like through the eyes of one of those migrants and here's what we found.
…
RAMOS: But on the other side of the border, activists are working day and night to fill the void.
[SPEAKING SPANISH WITH ON SCREEN SUBTITLES]: Hi. How are you? This is Paola Ramos speaking.
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Hi, Pao.
RAMOS: This is Elowyn, a young doctor from Mexico City, who's part of an international network helping women obtain both mifepristone and misoprostol. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, much of that help is being routed to Texas. She asked for her identity to be concealed in order to protect the operation.
Approximately, how big is this network? How many people are part of it?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Right now, we’re about 15,000 strong
RAMOS [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Wow, 15,000 people. [IN ENGLISH] And who are they, where are they contacting you from?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: They are mostly, the majority, migrant women and due to different situations, they find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy.
RAMOS [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Meaning, they are women who are right here, on the border, where I am?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Yes. Exactly.
RAMOS: How many packs of pills are you sending each week?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Every week? Like around four or six.
RAMOS: How do you hide these pills? How do you make sure that no one knows what you're mailing?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: The way we usually send it, which goes very unnoticed, is in sanitary pads inside an envelope. That’s how we send it.
RAMOS: I think many people would ask what is in it for you, right, obviously, you're not doing it for economic reasons. So, why do you do it?
ELOWYN [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Well, because I understand the reality of being a woman and I believe that being able to help them, being that support at this critical moment, is essential.
RAMOS: Back in Texas, Valentina feels the same way.
You risk your life and your status. Why?
VALENTINA [SPEAKING SPANISH WITH SUBTITLES]: Because I know what it feels like to be there and not have help.
RAMOS: Jose, that is the unintended consequences of these anti-abortion laws, right, that it drives people to take matters into their own hands. You know, to rely on the underground networks to ensure that women, at the end of the day, get the help that they need.
DIAZ-BALART: And Paola, just the numbers of people, the doctor in Mexico telling you she’s got about 15,000 people.
RAMOS: Huge.
DIAZ-BALART: This is something that is a crisis, and that continues to increase, women being sexually abused, being raped, consistently in Mexico, on their way to the United States, Paola.
RAMOS: When we talk about the humanitarian crisis, Jose, that's exactly what we're talking about. You're right.
