The first wave of 800 migrants from the much larger caravan arrived that the U.S./Mexico border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico Wednesday. According to reports, some of the migrants have been climbing the fortified border wall there to taunt Border Patrol agents, with some evening jumping into America illegally. Despite these facts, ABC and NBC ignored the caravan’s arrival with the latter suggesting the migrants were still a week away.
“Tonight, the first 800 migrants from the Central American caravan are at America's doorstep in Tijuana, Mexico. They split off from a larger group of about 5,000 and are planning to request asylum here in the U.S.,” announced anchor Jeff Glor during the CBS Evening News.
Correspondent John Blackstone was at the border with the migrants. There he witnessed them “looking through the barricade and some of them climbing it, teasing the Border Patrol on the other side. A few have even jumped, including today, a woman carrying a baby.”
“But any attempt to cross here ends with certain capture,” he added.
According to Blackstone, “As many as 4,000 migrants are expected to arrive in Tijuana as soon as tomorrow. But with shelters in Tijuana already overflowing, even this first wave is straining the resources in this city of 2.5 million.”
In a statement to the press, San Diego Border Patrol Sector Cheif Rodney Scott explained the organization's approach to the situation: "I'd like you to think of border security just the same as your home. And when someone comes to your home, they're supposed to go to the front door and present themselves."
Meanwhile, on NBC Nightly News, they refused to acknowledge the caravan’s arrival. Reporting on Defense Secretary James Mattis’s visit to the border to inspect the troops there, NBC Pentagon correspondent Hans Nichols said the General was “preparing his troops to dig in for the holidays as they wait for the caravan of migrants and refugees still one week away from Tijuana.”
And during ABC’s World News Tonight, White House correspondent Cecilia Vega was noticeably irritated as she was reporting on “White House drama.” She chided the President for not talking about the caravan since just before Election Day, suggesting he was off of his “fear-mongering message.”
“He tweeted about immigration and the caravan at least 30 times in the weeks before election day. But since then, the number of presidential tweets about immigration? One. And not a word about those 5,900 American troops he deployed to the border,” Vega pouted while not mentioning the arrival of the caravan at all.
Instead of reporting on the caravan, ABC praised an upcoming interview Monica Lewinsky did with A&E where she took the blame for her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton. The network also ran a different report about a terrifying shootout at a traffic stop between police and a Hispanic man. They waited until the last moment to mention that the suspect was now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.
As he was wrapping up his report, CBS’s Blackstone noted that “even before the caravan began arriving here, the backlog for asylum requests at the approved Tijuana border crossing was fortified with some 2,500 people already in line. So these new arrivals are going to have an extremely long wait with very little chance of success.”
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
November 14, 2018
6:38:26 p.m. EasternJEFF GLOR: Tonight, the first 800 migrants from the Central American caravan are at America's doorstep in Tijuana, Mexico. They split off from a larger group of about 5,000 and are planning to request asylum here in the U.S. John Blackstone is at the border.
[Cuts to video]
JOHN BLACKSTONE: The first wave of the migrant caravan arrived unexpectedly early at the U.S. Border in Tijuana, where there has been a fortified wall for decades. They’ve been looking through the barricade and some of them climbing it, teasing the Border Patrol on the other side. A few have even jumped, including today, a woman carrying a baby. But any attempt to cross here ends with certain capture.
RODNEY SCOTT (San Diego Border Patrol Sector Chief): I'd like you to think of border security just the same as your home. And when someone comes to your home, they're supposed to go to the front door and present themselves.
BLACKSTONE: For now, hundreds are simply setting up camp near where the border meets the Pacific. Jesse Ramirez, 25 from Honduras, says she hopes to seek asylum. President Trump has said you can't come in. "We are going to face the struggle," she says, "To see if we can make it." She hopes Mr. Trump will have change of heart.
But in preparation for the migrants, the border is being hardened. The U.S. military placed barricades and barbed wire in places and at least three lanes were closed at Tijuana, backing up traffic at the busiest land border crossing in the western hemisphere. In Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen joined Defense Secretary James Mattis today visiting troops sent to the border there.
JAMES MATTIS: The only thing we've been asked for is to put in obstacles, provide transportation, and to provide housing for Border Patrol. They've had to move a number of Border Patrol people.
BLACKSTONE: As many as 4,000 migrants are expected to arrive in Tijuana as soon as tomorrow. But with shelters in Tijuana already overflowing, even this first wave is straining the resources in this city of 2.5 million.
[Cuts back to live]
Migrants are continuing to stream up to the border wall here, which is recently been fortified with barbed wire across the top down by the beach. But even before the caravan began arriving here, the backlog for asylum requests at the approved Tijuana border crossing was fortified with some 2,500 people already in line. So these new arrivals are going to have an extremely long wait with very little chance of success. Jeff.
GLOR: Okay, John Blackstone, thank you.
