On Monday night Tucker Carlson claimed that leaked internal documents by officials at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that ICE would be suspending a nationwide operation targeting sex offenders subject to deportation and will no longer pursue undocumented sex offenders. In reality, ICE officials told The Washington Post that the Biden administration had nothing to do with suspending the operation and the department is continuing to investigate sex crimes involving U.S. citizens and non-citizens.
During the February 8, edition of his show, Carlson did his best to appall his viewers, claiming that the Biden administration is turning “illegal alien sex offenders” into “a protected class” and that “a foreign national charged with rape” won’t be deported as it would be “an act of bigotry.”
It’s no surprise that Carlson’s claims are distorting the reality of Biden’s immigration policy. Last year, Fox News had to defend Carlson from allegations of slander by arguing in court that what he says on his show is an “exaggeration” and “non-literal commentary.” In other words, he is so untrustworthy, viewers should know better than to take him seriously.
On February 7, the day before Carlson aired his latest claims, The Washington Post published its own recount of a series of internal memos provided to the paper that seem to contradict the claims made on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
According to the Post, a senior ICE official told the newspaper “that Homeland Security Investigations, a separate wing of ICE that conducts criminal investigations, has continued investigating sex offenses involving U.S. citizens and noncitizens.” Additionally, Operation Talon, the program operation that was suspended, was put into effect only within the final weeks of the Trump administration. According to the story, the “official said the Biden administration had nothing to do with that decision” to terminate the program and “it was possible that career staffers had planned it and set it aside while awaiting new instructions from the Biden team.”
ICE officials say anyone unlawfully in the United States will still be subject to arrest, including people who committed crimes and were released before the memo was issued. Crimes such as sex offenses remain a top priority, they said.
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ICE officials said that under Trump, criminal offenders were the vast majority of those taken into custody by agents. But many of those arrested had convictions or pending charges for driving under the influence, traffic offenses and immigration violations, such as illegally reentering the country.
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A senior ICE official said the Biden administration had nothing to do with that decision. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, the official said they had not heard about the operation, but that it was possible that career staffers had planned it and set it aside while awaiting new instructions from the Biden team.
The official noted that Homeland Security Investigations, a separate wing of ICE that conducts criminal investigations, has continued investigating sex offenses involving U.S. citizens and noncitizens.
Carlson is deliberately misleading viewers into believing that there’s a liberal plot to “punish” Americans by releasing scores of violent, anarchic immigrants into American neighborhoods. It’s the type of race-baiting dribble that only a man with a long history of white supremcist views and his staffers could produce, and its intent is explicitly to create vitriol for immigrants among Fox viewers.
