ABC Worries of ‘a New Normal’ with Deportation Sweeps Under Trump

Nicholas Fondacaro | February 14, 2017
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During Monday evening’s World News Tonight, ABC let it be known that they are distressed by the increase in sweeps being conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump. “There are new images coming in this evening of the sweeps, undocumented immigrants detained facing deportation now,” announced anchor David Muir as he touted the efforts of a liberal, “Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer demanding answers about this nationwide sweep.”

The images Muir was hyping up were narrated by reporter Mary Bruce, who painted a bleak picture of ICE operations. “This scene in the middle of the night in Los Angeles. Federal agents waiting in this parking lot. Guns at the ready. Cuffing this undocumented immigrant and hauling him off,” she said.

“The question tonight: Is this business as usual? Or a new normal,” she ominously asked, “The raids taking place across the country from Los Angeles to Atlanta and Chicago. Leading protesters today to fill the streets in Milwaukee. Fear after the president's new sweeping order.”

“680 undocumented immigrants arrested last week. Most convicted criminals, but not all,” Bruce whined. She pointed to the case of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos as an example of a none-criminal being arrested unfairly. But Bruce sinks her own argument by reporting that de Rayos is a convicted felon: “She came from Mexico as a teenager and used a fake social security number to get work, leading to a felony conviction.”

Last week de Rayos was dubbed Trump’s ‘first victim’ of deportation by the liberal networks.

According to Bruce, ICE says the sweeps and deportations “are routine” and were planned under former President Barack Obama. But she quickly discredited their claim by declaring “Some lawmakers aren't buying it.” “This is not a national security issue. This feels more like a huge shift in policy to get to ‘I want to deport 11 million people’ and we're going to do everything in our power to stop that,” New Mexico Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grishman explained to Bruce.

Towards the end of her report, Bruce tugged on their viewer's heartstrings:

MARY BRUCE: But tonight, for many families, confusion, and a question. Are they safe?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We're all heartbroken, and we still cannot believe that this is happening.

In closing out the segment, Bruce and Muir seemed encouraged by the fact that the director of ICE would be grilled by Hispanic lawmakers on Tuesday.

Bruce did try to whine about the deportations that occurred under Obama. She noted that he had the moniker ‘deporter-in-chief’ since he was reported to have kicked two million people out of the country. But where was this concern from the network for the last eight years? Only after Trump started deporting people did they show this level of outrage.

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