How Media Are Lying Right Now: ICE And ‘5-Year-Old Boy’ Edition
Eddie Scarry criticizes mainstream media coverage of an ICE encounter in Minnesota that involved a 5‑year‑old boy. He says outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, and Axios framed the story as ICE “detaining” the child and used a photo to inflame public outrage. According to DHS,agents were attempting to arrest the boy’s father,Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias (an alleged undocumented immigrant),who fled and left his son behind; ICE tried to place the child with his mother,who refused,so the boy was returned to his father in custody. Scarry argues the press distorted the facts to attack immigration enforcement, insists agents acted to protect the child, and urges readers to be skeptical of media narratives on such incidents.
Credit to the Department of Homeland Security and Vice President J.D. Vance for immediately nipping in the bud what was sure to be a hysterical weekend-long news cycle. And yet, the headlines remain.
New York Times: “Detention of 5-Year-Old by Federal Agents Incenses Minneapolis”
Washington Post: “ICE detains four children from Minnesota school district, including 5-year-old”
CBS: “ICE takes 5-year-old boy and his father after using boy as ‘bait,’ school district says”
Axios: “ICE’s detention of child puts new focus on Trump team’s tactics”
It’s the same playbook whenever the dying media want to manipulate their audiences and turn public sentiment against a government policy they oppose. In this case, immigration law enforcement. They would have you believe that ICE snatched an adorable little boy out of preschool and marched him into the frigid air of a Minneapolis suburb.
A photo used by The New York Times and The Washington Post and displayed on cable news depicts as much. (To be extra sure, the Post then ran a column headlined “The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICE.”) But, naturally, that’s not what happened.
ICE agents on Tuesday were attempting to detain Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, an alleged illegal alien from Ecuador, who happened to be with his 5-year-old son, Liam Conejo Ramos, at the time of the encounter, according to DHS. When Arias noticed the authorities, he took to his heels, leaving his son behind, though he was ultimately caught.
Not that I’d trust the well-being of any child at all with someone who works in the dying media, but perhaps they should tell us what they believe federal agents should do when faced with a minor whose guardian has just run away. Even if it’s not the media’s genuine wish, the only answer should be: Take the child so that he’s safe.
Though ICE attempted to place the child into the custody of his alleged mother at home, according to DHS, she refused, and so he was paired back with his father in detention.
This is a story about a man who allegedly broke the law and then put his son in danger by fleeing authorities. Instead, we get narratives from The New York Times, which opened its own article on the incident by writing, “A 5-year-old boy wearing a Spider-Man backpack and an oversized hat was detained with his father by immigration authorities on Tuesday. …”
An oversized hat, you say? The president must stop this cruelty at once!
They oppose immigration law enforcement, so they look for any and every opportunity to deceive. Their audiences would do themselves a service by skipping over any coverage on the subject.
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