Just when I thought I had seen it all, I was startled Thursday morning to hear that the ABC Network’s Good Morning America was promoting a segment scheduled to run on that network’s supposed news program, 20/20 on Friday, February 4th in which actors pose as a security guard and others act as apparent illegal aliens from Mexico to see how patrons in a restaurant react to the security guard accosting the Mexican appearing customers in the restaurant!
I have provided you with two accounts about this shameful “news report” this is nothing more, in my view, than a thinly veiled effort to discredit the Arizona immigration law, SB-1070. The shorter version appeared on Fox Nation and the longer version of the critique of this outrageous “news story” appeared on the Media Research Center.
What is so incredible is the way that, in my judgement, ABC News played so fast and loose with the truth.
Here is an example of just how outrageous the story was:
Here are a couple of sentences lifted from the transcript of the discussion I heard on Thursday morning on Good Morning America:
Robin Roberts: Also this morning, imagine being threatened with deportation, even though you haven’t committed a crime and it’s all because of how you look. John Quinones goes undercover to Arizona’s controversial immigration law.
George Stephanopoulos: His ultimate, “What would you do?”
Go back and re-read what Robin Roberts said: .” ..imagined being threatened with deportation, even though you haven’t committed a crime and it’s all because of how you look…”
ABC hired a make-believe security guard who conducted himself in a despicable fashion who is heard to demand to see identification from patrons of a restaurant challenging them as to their immigration status. The premise is absolutely bogus! Under what circumstances would any security guard challenge anyone to show identification in a public place?
Under what circumstances could a security guard or even a police officer threaten a suspected illegal alien with deportation?
It was apparent that the objective of this exercise in the bizarre was to make it appear that under the Arizona immigration law this sort of challenge would be appropriate while nothing could be further from the truth!
Johnnie Cochran, the late attorney who was part of the O.J. Simpson “Dream Team” that successfully defended him in the murder trial was a highly skilled trial lawyer. One of his quotes is worth considering today, “If you cannot trust the messenger, you cannot trust the message!”
This ABC article for 20/20 is, in my judgement, irresponsible and calls into question the trustworthiness of the way that ABC portrays news stories.
The immigration debate is a highly emotional debate. In the wake of the shootings in Arizona which, incidentally, had nothing to do with so called “hate speech” politicians and other leaders talked about the need to cool the rhetoric. This is, in fact, something that we should all strive to do. I find it upsetting that ABC would produce a story that could ignite strong reactions by creating a situation that bears no resemblance to reality.
Most people, if asked about the First Amendment will, almost by reflex, say that the First Amendment is about “Freedom of speech.” Certainly freedom of speech is an important component of the First Amendment but what is important to consider are five simple words, “the right to peaceably assemble.”
Certainly I cannot speak for the Founding Fathers, but when you consider that at the time our nation was founded, the only way that discourse could take place was if people met face to face. There were no technological means to have discussion or discourse back then- so the very first amendment of our Constitution specifically included the right to peaceably assemble.
Peaceful discourse is at the heart of our democracy! When a news organization twists the truth and spews falsehoods as was done in the ABC News article, grave damage is done. It is the equivalent of throwing gasoline on a fire that you are supposedly attempting to put out! There is absolutely no justification for doing this- it is yet another example of an editorial masquerading as a news report and the alleged “journalists” at ABC News should absolutely know better! This is the equivalent of inciting a riot in the name of “Free Speech!”
The Arizona immigration law does not even permit profiling. Furthermore any law can be improperly be used by a bad cop to profile. Stop and consider that a police officer who is determined to engage in racial profiling can use loitering laws, vagrancy laws, motor vehicle laws and a host of other laws to single out individuals because of their appearance. The immigration laws of our nation and of Arizona do not include any sort of profiling component. These laws are blind as to race, religions and ethnicity. The only distinction that our nation’s immigration laws make is between those who are citizens of our nation and those who are not. Those people who are not citizens are to be referred to by a term the open borders crowd hates- that term is “alien.” An alien is defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act, as being any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.
As an INS special agent I have certainly arrested illegal aliens from Mexico and Latin America. I have also arrested illegal aliens form Canada, Great Britain, Japan, China, Jamaica, Greece, Israel and nearly every other country on the face of our planet.
Other states are beginning to emulate Arizona in seeking to enact immigration laws that are similar to Arizona’s SB 1070. The state of Indiana is now taking up an immigration law and many other states are following suit.
As you may know, I provided an extensive declaration to the law firm that Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer retained to defend her state against the lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice in an effort to prevent the state of Arizona from doing something that the federal government is apparently unwilling to do- enforce the immigration laws!
The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.
I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda! We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance. This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue! You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem! Democracy is not a spectator sport! Lead, follow or get out of the way!
ABC News Sends Actor Posing as Security Guard to Challenge AZ Illegal Immigration Law
