The progressive publican The American Prospect alleges that CNN aired a staged crossing of illegal aliens crossing the Rio Grande.
CNN’s report in question featured national correspondent Ed Lavandera, who narrates “That’s when we stumble across a group of migrants loading into a raft” as it plays out on the screen. “The Rio Grande Valley has been ground zero for the latest surge in migration and here you see the operation unfolding right in front of us” he explains.
While it’s nice of CNN to report on the border crisis – that particular bit may have been orchestrated. As the Prospect‘s Marcia Brown notes:
The scene may not be all that it appears to be. Immigrant rights advocates and others claim that the footage was staged, potentially with the cooperation of the Border Patrol. CNN was warned that the clip appeared to be a fabrication before it aired, but the network decided to run it anyway. A similar clip that appears to show the same or a similar trafficking incident from another angle was shared across right-wing media and even linked to on the social media accounts of members of Congress. This clip went viral among immigration opponents, and is helping to fuel the story of an out-of-control border. The video—legitimized on mainstream media—easily fit into that narrative. Now a series of charges and counter-charges have demonstrated the radioactive politics of immigration.
There are the following red flags:
- In the CNN footage, the smuggler leading the boat wears fatigues and a black ski mask. Smugglers typically attempt to blend in with the migrants, to avoid more severe punishment should they be caught.
- Smugglers also don’t normally provide face masks and life vests, nor ferry six boatloads of people across in broad daylight.
- Migrants don’t typically line up single file along the shore to cross.
- The Guardian reported that the area of the river where the footage was taken can only be accessed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection–controlled boat slips.
- At one point in the footage from the shore, the men behind the camera have a conversation. One person says to the other, “Do you ever hook these guys up?” and another person responds, “Yeah. Two or three of ’em. They’re Grade A.” A former Border Patrol agent comments “What I hear is these men possibly talking about paying this smuggler off to gather a bunch of unsuspecting migrants and have them cross in a particular place in order to get this shot.”
CNN responded in their newsletter to say that they “obviously did not stage the crossing,” and then blamed right wing outlets for picking up the story (which originated with a left-wing outlet). CNN also notes that Customs and Border Patrol issued a statement “categorically den[ying] any suggestion that the United States Border Patrol staged a migrant crossing for a media story.”
David Dayen, the executive editor of The Prospect, says CNN ignored his inquiries for a week before accusing him of misinformation in their newsletter.
Starts with "a progressive website": check. Obviously anything partisan is untruthful.
We've been around 32 years FWIW.— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 27, 2021
Then the killer evidence: the Border Patrol said they didn't stage anything!
I'll leave to you whether the Border Patrol is trustworthy. But this also wasn't what we suggested. We suggested right wing forces put it together, with possible participation of CBP.— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 27, 2021
But in addition, as @oliverdarcy knows because I asked him about it, Henry Cuellar, the Democrat who shared the right wing video, told us that he got it *from the Border Patrol.*
The ones who said they had nothing to do with it.— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 27, 2021
And what really pains me is that this smears a young reporter, @Marcia_Brown9, who has spent years on the immigration beat, was just at the border, and knows a ton more than @oliverdarcy about what's really happening there. It's disgraceful.
— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 27, 2021
More wrong things packed into this:
-We are not a "progressive website," we've been putting out print magazines for 32 years
-There is no "Customs and Border Patrol." It's Customs and Border Protection. There's also the U.S. Border Patrol, but not with the C in front of it.— David Dayen (@ddayen) March 27, 2021
While this particular crossing may have been staged, the border crisis remains real nonetheless, and a problem that the Biden administration can’t be bothered to describe as such.
The question then becomes: with a crisis this severe, why would fake reporting even be necessary? Laziness?
Matt Palumbo is the author of Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and de Blasio Ruined New York, Debunk This: Shattering Liberal Lies, and Spygate
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