The GOP tried to pushed a massive deportation bill to expel over half a million DREAMers from the U.S. before the the August recess, according to CNN.
CNN producer Deirdre Walsh erroneously reported Monday that the Republican-controlled House voted before the August recess to “deport 600,000 children born in the United States to parents who entered the country illegally.”
In reality, the House voted to block President Obama from unilaterally granting aliens legal status underthe Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As Breitbart News reported, the Obama administration claimed “prosecutorial discretion” under the DACA to allow 500,000 foreigners under age 30 to remain in the U.S.
Adding to the confusion, Walsh later acknowledges that the House’s bill would prevent the White House from issuing deportation deferments. This inconsistency may baffle readers: Is writing a law to stop the president from exercising unilateral discretion over immigration enforcement the legal equivalent to ordering the deportation of all aliens eligible for DACA?
Walsh’s politically correct language further muddies the immigration issue: she calls illegal aliens “undocumented workers” — but whether she is referring to the surge of illegals from Central America crossing the border, the 11 to 20 million illegals already residing in the country, or DREAMers is unclear. Only pro-amnesty Republicans and Democrats were interviewed in the report, while Tea Party Republicans were treated as specters lurking in the background.
Most amusingly, Walsh included lengthy quotes from GOP operative Henry Barbour on the GOP’s need for inclusiveness — the same Barbour who reportedly funded race-baiting ads in Mississippi meant to paint Chris McDaniel, Tea Party challenger to Sen. Thad Cochran, as a racist.
Barbour, who reportedly paid for ads that told Mississippi voters that “a victory for Chris McDaniel is a loss for… race relationships between blacks and whites,” warned “against talking in a way that’s not too hot and comes across as negative or exclusive” on illegal immigration, according to CNN.
Why would Walsh report that the GOP wanted to deport DREAMers in the first place? Perhaps because she indirectly cited an illegal alien activist as her evidence:
A chief proponent of the House bill, Iowa Rep. Steve King, was confronted in his home state last week at an event with Sen. Rand Paul, a likely 2016 presidential candidate. With media present covering Paul, a woman claiming that she would be deported if the measure became law confronted King about the legislation.
Walsh fails to mention that the illegal immigrant who accused lawmakers of “hatred” was a paid activist who is begging for thousands of dollars to pull more stunts for the cameras.
Even Wikipedia has better standards: Citation needed, CNN.
The network has a lot on its plate, between laying off employees and dealing with EMT-chomping reporters, but getting the facts straight on a major bill at the center of a national debate should be top priority.
Correction: Breitbart News first reported that the DACA unilaterally granted aliens born in the U.S. to illegal alien parents legal status. In fact, the law’s reach is much broader — any alien who illegally entered the country before age 15 was eligible, regardless of parental status, after meeting a few requirements. We regret the error.
(Editor’s note: Thanks to CIS’s Jon Feere, who first noticed this glaring error.)
Follow Katie on Twitter: @k_mcq. Email her at kmchugh@breitbart.com.
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