Just days after President Trump threatened the British Broadcasting Corporation with a $1 billion lawsuit over the controversial editing of his January 6, 2021, speech, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now expressing anger at The Guardian, another British-based news outlet. In a Tuesday social media post on X, Trump’s DHS demands that the outlet “Stop publishing criminal illegal aliens’ testimonies as the truth.”
The news article drawing the ire of the Trump administration’s DHS was published by the British-based outlet The Guardian on Tuesday under a headline that read, “US firefighter detained on the job speaks out after deportation: ‘I feel betrayed’” The article was written by Los Angeles-based Guardian writer Sam Levin. Within hours of the article’s publication, a social media post by DHS proclaimed, “These are NOT firefighters. They’re CRIMINAL ILLEGALS.”
In the article, the story of the Border Patrol’s arrest of Jose Bertin Cruz-Estrada, a twice-deported illegal alien, was nabbed while unlawfully working in Washington state for an Oregon-based federal contractor that specializes in wildland fire suppression and prevention. In late August, Cruz-Estrada and another illegal alien found working for the contractor, clearing debris and fallen trees as part of the response to the Bear Gulch fire.
The article did not fail to mention any of the facts surrounding the arrest, nor did it fail to document Cruz-Estrada’s history in the United States. The author did appear, however, to go to extraordinary lengths to sugarcoat the reality of his illegal presence in the United States, whether by his writing or by using Cruz-Estrada’s narrative of events surrounding his life in the United States and his version of criminal acts and deportations.
In the story, the author describes Cruz-Estrada’s version of his first arrival in the United States, writing, “Cruz-Estrada left Mexico in 2003 at age 12, he said, first briefly living in Omaha, Nebraska.” The statement leaves the reader to interpret “left Mexico” as meaning he illegally entered the United States, a criminal offense.
Cruz-Estrada, according to DHS, was first ordered removed in 2015 after a criminal conviction for conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine in Independence, Oregon. Cruz-Estrada was initially arrested in January 2013 in what authorities in Independence described as one of the biggest drug busts in Polk County history. Cruz-Estrada and 12 others were arrested in a law enforcement operation targeting a methamphetamine and heroin trafficking ring.
According to authorities at the time, three vehicles, two firearms, and nearly $140,000 worth of methamphetamine and heroin were seized in addition to other evidence. Cruz-Estrada was believed by authorities to be an operative of the methamphetamine trafficking ring performing “lookout” duties around one house raided by authorities.
According to court records, Cruz-Estrada, who was detained under an ICE immigration hold after his arrest, pleaded to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine after several other charges were dropped. The conviction carried no jail time, and Cruz-Estrada was subsequently deported to Mexico.
The Guardian’s article summed up the 2013 series of events leading to Cruz-Estrada’s conviction and subsequent deportation from the United States by stating, “Officers, records show, were not focused on Cruz-Estrada, but rather a resident of a home where Cruz-Estrada was hanging out.”
The article pushes Cruz-Estrada’s summation of his nearly ten years of illegal presence in the United States, which includes two felony illegal entries into the United States and his unlawful employment with a federal contractor, as “years of public service”. The Guardian’s author described the struggle facing Cruz-Estrada by writing, “Now separated from his 14-year-old son, his mother and two brothers, Cruz-Estrada is speaking out for the first time, questioning why the US government targeted him on the job, after years of public service.”
In the Tuesday morning post by Homeland Security on X, authorities lambasted the article, saying, “Once again, The Guardian is debasing itself by peddling sob stories from a criminal illegal alien. Jose Bertin Cruz-Estrada, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, has charges for the delivery and sale of methamphetamine. Border Patrol previously encountered this criminal illegal alien 15 times.”
Other left-leaning journalists jumped on the bandwagon tod spread the sob story of Cruz-Estrada’s arrest, framing him as a heroic firefighter and ignoring his crimes.
The attack on The Guardian comes days after President Trump and the White House criticized and threatened to sue the BBC over its coverage of his January 6 speech as fake news.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, Trump administration officials have called out several domestic media outlets over their coverage of immigration related law enforcement actions.
In a Thursday morning post on X by the Homeland Security account, the agency chided an NBC article headlined “Chicago residents say immigration enforcement is leading to children getting tear-gassed,” saying, “Here’s the REAL STORY: Border Patrol conducted an operation that resulted in the arrest of a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, who has previously (been) arrested for assault.”
According to DHS, during a targeted enforcement operation, Border Patrol agents were surrounded and boxed in by a group of agitators. After being issued multiple lawful commands and verbal warnings that were ignored, two U.S. citizens were arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.
The social media post by DHS concluded with a statement concerning the rise in assaults on federal agents in recent months saying, “Our officers are facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them. Smears like this from @NBC News are adding fuel to that fire. It must end.”
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to fix a typographical error.
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