A lot has changed in two weeks, and a big part of what's changed is that the Trump administration officials aren't afraid to call out the legacy media when they are spewing a big dose of the stuff one might find under the north end of a southbound horse. Most recently, on Sunday's "Meet the Press," Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem called out a transparently leading question from host Kristen Welker.
The conversation was brief but revealing:
Kristen Welker: Let me ask you, I've been talking to people who are here legally, and they have expressed concerns. They say they are carrying in some cases, their documents around with them. Some of them are afraid to go to churches because ICE agents are now going into churches and schools to carry out these deportation operations. Do people who are here legally need to be carrying around paperwork, and can you guarantee that people who are here legally won't be wrongfully detained?
Kristi Noem: Kristen, I would say that if I've heard that, expressed by people who are legal citizens of the United States, it's because the media has perpetuated that fear. The media has said that that's a possibility. There's nothing in this administration from President Trump or from any of the law enforcement individuals in these communities that has said that they need to walk around and be concerned about that at all. We, uh, the citizens of the United States are confident that finally, after four long years of having a president in the White House that ignored federal law, and endangered their communities, there's a different man in charge now. There's a man in charge who loves this country. He's going to help make their communities safer. And these citizens that live here are thrilled, in fact when I was in New York City earlier this week, in several cities since then, the people walking by us on the streets were thanking our officers. They were thanking these investigators and those who were taking these dangerous criminals out (inaudible) being there, making sure they could walk their kids to school, with a new confidence that they could get there safely, and that they could do business and have their community back.
One quibble: The original question was about legal immigrants, which includes not only naturalized citizens but non-citizens who are in the country legally, while Secretary Noem's reply only mentions citizens.
See Related: Kristi Noem: Notorious Gang Leader Nabbed by ICE Was Trying to Buy Explosives—What For?
Even so: Kristen Welker makes a rather curious point when she claims that people are carrying their "documents" around with them. The proper reply to that would be, "Yes, so?"
Virtually every adult in our society carries some form of ID with them: A driver's license, a state-issued ID, or some other ID. I've done a fair amount of international travel and every place I've ever been, from South Africa to Germany to China, required me to have my passport on my person at all times. It's not at all unusual for a nation to require non-residents in the country legally to carry their documentation; Kristen Welker makes it sound as though Homeland Security was setting up checkpoints at schools and churches, stopping people and demanding "Papiere, bitte." They aren't, and they won't. Yes, non-citizens should have their passports, green cards, or other IDs documenting their status on their person; it's a requirement.
This is a rather plain and transparent bit of fear-mongering. Secretary Noem handled it pretty well: She shut Kristen Welker's line of inquiry down, evenly and politely.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member