Fox News predictably cued up the poutrage over the Biden administration’s opposition to Texas usurping federal authority and endangering migrants by placing buoys in the Rio Grande along the Mexican border.
The Texas Tribune describes the buoys:
The 1,000-foot-long string of buoys, separated by serrated saw blades and supporting a submerged mesh net, has floated in the middle of the river next to Eagle Pass since July, sparking protests from the Mexican government and migrant advocates alike.
The DOJ sued Texas over the buoys, arguing that they were installed without required federal authorization, that they obstruct navigation and threaten relations with Mexico, The Tribune also reported. On Wednesday, a federal court ruled in favor of the Biden administration and ordered the buoys removed but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on Thursday, allowing them to remain in place while the case is pending.
But that didn’t stop National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd from whining on Friday about the Biden administration’s opposition and lawsuit to force Texas to remove the buoys. Nor did it stop Fox News from giving Judd a friendly platform to do so.
Brandon called the buoys “so effective” in saving lives. “People aren’t crossing the border illegally in those places anymore,” he claimed.
JUDD: Those are very dangerous places to cross, we know that this administration’s caused more deaths than any other administration in the past, and yet they’re going to pull away something that is actually going to actually save lives. Save lives of illegal migrants, and it’s also going to save lives of people that are the first responders like us Border Patrol agents that are going into the river to help those individuals. It’s monstrous what this administration continues to do. It’s pure hypocrisy and it’s nothing but politics.
Judd did not offer any evidence that lives have been saved. Nor did "straight news" host Sandra Smith ask for any. Nor did she mention that a Texas state trooper has “raised internal concerns about the barrier diverting migrants, including children, into parts of the Rio Grande where they're more likely to drown,” CBS News reported in August.
Instead, Smith offered disingenuous pushback by asking, “For what reason, then, is it that some of these critics are saying these buoys, these barriers aren’t working?” As if it’s not her job to know and provide viewers with that information.
Sure enough Judd used her question as an opening to make inflammatory attacks the Biden administration and their supporters.
JUDD: They want open borders. That’s what this administration’s base wants. That’s what this administration continues to do. They continue to play politics. They say one thing without backing up anything with facts or with actual action. … Their action is what’s causing these people to cross the borders illegally. It’s the catch and release. It’s that magnet. People being released into the United States is going to continue to cause people to cross our borders illegally.
Smith didn't challenge any of Judd's diatribe.
You can see how a Fox News “straight news” host acts as a propaganda vessel below, from the September 8, 2023 Your World.
This is the same thing as when Sessions announced the vicious policy of separating families from their children – he openly stated this was intended to make sure migrants knew it would be viscerally unpleasant for them to come to the US, so hopefully they wouldn’t anymore. And the Pence White House added to this with the equally vicious “Remain in Mexico” idea, which was designed to push migrants into the Mexican desert for months rather than allow them to enter the US. It’s no surprise that border entries plummeted of all kinds on the US/Mexico line after that – the Pence White House had made clear that coming to the US meant death or what could be worse than that. The reason the entries have jumped since then isn’t because the Biden White House is lax, but because we stopped the viciousness from the Pence guys. It’s not rocket science.
I’ll note that this viciousness from Angry Right Wingers goes back over a century. In more recent years, we can identify key moments of bigotry like the “Minutemen” volunteering to “watch” the border from their lawnchairs. And the Angry Right Wing AM radio support for Ramos & Compean for shooting a fleeing suspect in the back and then covering up the bad shoot. The proper response here is to confront this kind of bigotry when it pops up.
I have less than fond memories of obligatory Catechism classes before the classical initiation ceremonies of communion and confirmation (we’re talking over 65 years ago) but I do recall some interesting concepts that these idiots seem to ignore Namely that Jesus argued strongly in favour of welcoming strangers, loving one’s neighbour (aka fellow humans), turning the other cheek, treating others as you would like to be treated, and other stuff. To my mind, he defined wokeness as a path for his followers.
Followed by … “What would the Founding Fathers say?” Unlike these two so-called pundits, I reread the Constitution fairly often and – again unlike them – I actually understand what is written in there.