Freedom of the Press #345
By Hank Silverberg
Commentary
They show up on the street, faces covered, wearing bullet proof vests, uniforms that say "police," but have no visible badges. Who are they?
Chances are, it's an attempt by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal immigrants. As a reporter or a bystander, you may hear about it and go investigate. But don't expect to get much cooperation. In fact, they will tell you to go away and threaten you with arrest if you don't comply.
That's not the way it's supposed to work. The Press is the public's watch dog. We are there to witness and report what our leaders and their minions are doing with your money and the power you gave them.
But The Freedom of The Press Foundation says there have been increasing incidents of ICE hostility toward the media. It's bigger than the occasional friction between police and the media. There is even a call for an investigation of CNN because the cable network publicized an app called ICEBlock. That app alerts the general public to sightings of ICE agents.
Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem has said her agency is working with the Department of Justice for potential prosecution of CNN for-- get this-- "encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities and operations."
.jpg) |
| (The 1st Amendment) |
For the record, there is no law which prevents CNN or anyone else from doing that. And there's no evidence of such a warning causing any violence as the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has claimed.
It gets worse. In February, the FCC actually opened an investigation against KCBS in California after it reported on ICE raids that were happening in San Jose.
With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill last week, ICE will be transformed into the largest law enforcement agency in the USA. Since they don't wear badges and chase the public and the press away from their operations, the threat to prosecute the media for reporting what they are doing as it happens makes ICE the the closest thing to a Secret Police the United States have ever had.
And it gets even more dangerous. Last week, ICE agents in New York reportedly harassed journalists attempting to cover immigration court proceedings, even though court proceedings in the U.S. are open to the public by law (|the Press is the public, by the way). ICE agents even photographed reporter's press credentials, another form of intimidation.
And then there is the case of Mario Guevera, a journalist who is known for documenting immigration raids. He was arrested on unjustified charges while covering a "No Kings" protest in Georgia. They threatened to deport him back to El Salvador--a country he fled after receiving death threats for his reporting there.
As an experienced journalist I can tell you there are rules that reporters follow at crime scenes, protests and other police activities to make sure we don't interfere. ICE has changed the rules and has pushed the restrictions beyond the Constitution.
The First Amendment makes it pretty clear that the Government --and therefore any agency of the Government-- can not abridge freedom of the Press, and that means the freedom to report what we see and hear as it happens, not from a sanitized press release hours later. The current leadership has threatened our freedoms just about as far as we can tolerate on this issue, as they have on several others. I fear a violent reaction is eventually inevitable if they don't stop now.
https://freedom.press/issues/ice-wants-to-work-in-secret-we-shouldnt-let-it/
News You May Have Missed!
Has your opinion on how to deal with immigration changed in the last year? A new Gallup Poll shows the public has become more positive about immigration over the last 12 months.
.jpg)
With illegal border crossings down sharply so far this year, fewer Americans back hardline enforcement (down from 47% to 38%) and more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
Only 35% of those polled approve of President Trump's handling of immigration, and that number drops to 21% among Hispanics.
And 38% say immigration should be kept at the current level, while 26% say it should be increased.
Support for allowing immigrants brought here illegally as children, the so-called DACA group, to become U.S. citizens is up to 78%. It was 70% last year.
Other findings in the poll which was conducted from June 2 -26:
Views of President Donald Trump's Handling of Immigration, by Party
Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the immigration issue?
You can look at the entire poll at the link below.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigration-abated.aspx
Volcanos Erupting?
Consider this: there have been more than 300 earthquakes at Mount Rainier in Washington State. Alaska's Great Sitkin volcano is erupting lava in the summit crater, and another Alaskan volcano, Mount Spurr, has had shallow earthquakes since February.
At the same time, Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii continues to erupt, though the lava flows have been getting smaller in recent days.
What's going on? Should we worry about some massive move in the earth on the west coast?
These events are all taking place along what's known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire". But Geologists say there is no reason for alarm.
 |
| (Courtesy of USGS) |
Dumbest Quote of The Week!
This week's dumb quote comes from The President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. I know, he says something dumb almost every day, but this one embarrassed the United States on the international stage where, thanks to Mr. Trump, we are already being mocked and often ignored.
Trump was meeting with the leaders of several African countries. It was an important meeting because many of the raw materials we need come from Africa, and the Chinese have been making inroads there. The leaders around the table were from West Africa, and most of them speak French. After an exchange with Liberian President Joseph Boakai, Trump said:
"Thank you, and such good English. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated? It's beautiful English. I have people at this table [who] can't speak nearly as well."
Boakai, who has a business degree, diplomatically told Trump that he was educated in his own country. His back was to the media so we could not read his facial expression.
 |
| (Liberia's flag) |
Why is this a faux pas? Most high school students in the U.S. know that the modern country of Liberia, which now has 5.5 million people, was founded in 1822 by a colony of freed Black American slaves. Their Constitution and flag are almost identical to ours. English is their official language.
Of note, the insult was not reported in newspapers in Liberia, but the reaction nevertheless was very negative.
My recent book "The Campaign" can be purchased at the links below. Or you can buy a copy by emailing me at: HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
My NEWEST book is now available. It is designed for use in Public Speaking and entry level communications classes.
Comments
Post a Comment
Reactive comments are welcome. Please keep it civil. Any direct attack on the blogger or those who post is not welcome and will be deleted.