On illegal immigration, media downplay enforcement for human-interest fluff

If you get the feeling the media aren’t being straight with you, that’s because they aren’t. Nowhere is this clearer than in their coverage of illegal immigration, where pertinent details are routinely obscured or buried in favor of naked appeals to emotion.

Consider the opener to a recent New York Times report, titled “TSA Tipped Off ICE Agents Before Arrests at San Francisco Airport.”

“The woman and her nine-year-old daughter were walking through Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday night, heading to their gate to fly to Miami to visit a relative, when a stranger in plainclothes approached,” the paper reported. “Minutes later, Angelina Lopez-Jimenez was on her knees, crying, as two immigration agents were handcuffing her in front of her daughter, according to video footage that went viral this week.”

It’s not until 14 paragraphs in, exactly halfway through the article, that the Times reports the woman has had a final order of removal against her since 2019. Read a little further, and you’ll learn that the order was issued after she skipped her immigration hearing.

What is this information doing so far down the page? Shouldn’t the “why” of the woman’s arrest appear much earlier, nearer to the who, what, where, and when?

This style of coverage, where crucial information appears far below human-interest-heavy headlines and ledes, is hardly unique to this one Times report. When it comes to covering illegal immigration in the U.S., hiding the ball is practically standard operating procedure. The practice has become so widespread that it’s hard to believe it’s........

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