The alphabet networks have remained steadfast in their refusal to report on the horrific story emanating out of Rockville, Md., where two illegal aliens (the illegality of the second teen was confirmed yesterday) stand accused of raping a 14-year-old in a school bathroom. If confronted, the presidents of ABC, CBS, and NBC would be hard-pressed to cite the journalistic ethic that justifies their continuing boycott of the story. Expect all three networks to chime in loudly in the event that 18-year-old Henry E. Sanchez-Milian and 17-year-old Jose O. Montano are found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
The big three electing to ignore a story that doesn’t fit their political agenda is only part of a much larger problem — and that’s the unwillingness of the Left to give an inch on the immigration issue. I can understand where some liberals oppose deporting illegal aliens whose only crime is having sneaked across the border. But I can’t understand where anyone would reasonably be opposed to prosecuting to the full extent of the law illegals who come here and commit violent crimes. Yet, suddenly releasing criminal illegals back into the general population has become acceptable and even admired. The Travis County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, which last week released a record 142 criminal aliens for whom immigration officials had issued detainers, has become the score to beat among sanctuary city enthusiasts.
Maybe the opposition to doing the obvious right thing when it comes to the disposition of criminal illegals is more a function of who is in charge than of the policy itself. The now-taciturn ABC News reported last August that then-candidate Donald Trump promised “to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country” on “Day One” of his presidency. The title of the article, ironically, was a boast: “Obama Has Deported More People Than Any Other President.”
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Another issue is the language liberals use to frame their argument in favor of a kindler, gentler treatment of criminal aliens. It has become fashionable on the Left to equate Immigration and and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. A subtler version of this tendency is to play down the severity — the sheer horror — associated with some of the crimes committed by illegals. Consider the harsh criticism the Montgomery County school superintendent leveled at parents in the community whom he accused of racism and xenophobia. In his statement, he referred to the alleged Rockville High School rape as a “tragedy.” A tragedy is what happens when scaffolding falls from a high floor in a skyscraper and kills a pedestrian walking beneath it or when a small child runs out in traffic. What happened last week at Rockville High School was an outrage. So is trying to characterize it as anything less.
