Social media was set ablaze this week following breathless reports of a seemingly heartless action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers: A man driving his wife to the hospital to give birth was taken into ICE custody when the couple stopped at a gas station in San Bernardino, California.
Early reports, predictably, failed to include pivotal details.
The man ICE detained, Joel Arrona-Lara, is wanted for homicide in Mexico.
“Mr. Arrona-Lara was brought to ICE’s attention due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Mexico on homicide charges,” said ICE spokesperson Lori Haley, as reported in The Daily Caller and other outlets.
Oh — and the pregnant woman, Maria del Carmen Venegas, a mother of five, was not in labor.
She drove herself the rest of the way. The pair were en route to the hospital for a planned Caesarean section.
Those crucial details, of course, didn’t stop those on the Left from immediately seizing upon the situation to cast ICE as monsters — and to call for its abolishment.
With much of the media complicit in furthering the Left’s agenda to demonize ICE and lionize illegal aliens, stories like this are far too tempting for liberals to pass up — even if they have to obscure reality in order to fit the preferred narrative.
Politicians instantly jumped on board as well, including Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), who decried the action as worse than heartless.
There’s heartless and then there’s whatever the hell this is. https://t.co/qWgPoJ2ABe
— Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) August 18, 2018
Did you read the article, or just the headline? The piece says:
1. ICE claims he was "wanted by law enforcement authorities in Mexico on an outstanding homicide warrant."
2. She was not in labor – she was going in for a scheduled c-section.
What would you have done?
— Joseph Steinberg (@JosephSteinberg) August 19, 2018
“She said to help her tell the judge that [Arrona-Lara] is a good man … that he needs to be back here with his family because his family needs him,” said a young boy.
The youngster, presumably the older son of Venegas, was translating for his mother in a clip aired Sunday afternoon on Fox News’ “America’s News HQ.”
“We’re gonna have hope on God, and we’re gonna pray … that he’s gonna come out and come back home,” the boy added.
Lori Haley, again speaking on behalf of ICE, said yesterday, “ICE continues to focus its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security … ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.”
Arrona-Lara is still in custody, Fox News reported Sunday afternoon — and his family maintains the man’s innocence.
Check out this video, then see the tweets below:
He’s WANTED for MURDER in MEXICO! This is how Mainstream Media outlets manipulate YOUR emotions with Fake News. They want YOU to have an emotional reaction that leads to you voting for Democrats because the majority of newsrooms vote for Democrats.
Link: https://t.co/WKPJVaXacx https://t.co/RwRZWRCHRa— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 19, 2018
ICE detained Joel while he drove his wife to the hospital to deliver their baby.
How is government serving its purpose here? How does this better society?
This leaves a mom without a partner, a baby without a father, and us without a soul.#AbolishICEhttps://t.co/XEy7609HXz
— Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) August 19, 2018
Dear screaming #democrats. A) She wasn't in labor…..If she was ICE would've gotten her an ambulance. B) He is wanted for MURDER! https://t.co/E37qd7VxdO
— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) August 19, 2018
Michele Blood is a Flemington, New Jersey-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to LifeZette.
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