A progressive news organization suggested that CNN recently broadcast a “staged” crossing of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border.
The American Prospect examined a report that aired on March 12 on “Outfront with Erin Burnett”, in which CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera witnessed the dramatic crossing of a motorboat near Hidalgo, Texas.
“The Rio Grande Valley was the ground zero for the latest increase in migration and here you see the operation taking place right in front of us,” Lavandera told viewers. “After the first ferry crossings, the magnitude of this moment is revealed. Dozens of migrants appear and walk to the river’s edge. You can see that this is a serious operation.”
As the Prospectus pointed out, the smuggler who guided the migrant boat across the river in the CNN report “wears a black ski mask and uniform”.
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“Smugglers usually try to mix with migrants, to avoid more severe punishments if they are caught,” noted Marcia Brown, fellow editor at The American Prospect. “Smugglers also do not usually provide face masks and life jackets, nor do they carry six boats full of people in broad daylight. Migrants also do not usually line up along the coast to cross.”
Former Border Control agent Jenn Budd told the publication that seeing the smuggler’s mask told her that he “knew he was going to be filmed and didn’t want to be framed.”
The article also quoted Marianna Treviño Wright, the executive director of the National Butterfly Center and a vocal advocate for migrants, who claimed that her organization travels downstream “at least four times a week” and “never sees any kind of trafficking operation as it is.”
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“We [alerted] our contact @CNN that this was an assembly on Thursday, March 11, BEFORE the play aired. They chose sensationalism over truth and integrity, “the center claimed on Monday, while sharing The American Prospect’s report on Twitter.
Wright confirmed a March 18 report by The Guardian that the area of the river where the CNN report occurred “can only be accessed by US Customs and Border Protection”.
“They cheated Ed Lavandera to do this or he is so desperate for ratings that he agreed,” Wright told The American Prospect.
Brown then highlighted a video that appeared online before CNN’s report showed a similar scene, pointing out: “The boat in this video and the boat in the CNN footage have the same markings, and the same ski-masked man wearing a uniform that appears to be driving the boat. ”
In an article published on Medium, Budd noticed an exchange heard on the video between two men speaking English. One of the men asks, “Did you ever hook these guys up?” with the other responding: “Yes, they are … grade A …”
“As a former agent, what I hear is that these men are possibly talking about paying this smuggler to gather a bunch of unsuspecting migrants and cross them in a certain place to get this photo,” wrote Budd. “Whether or not CNN knew this was a setup or not, I can’t say. I can say that the ramps in that area to place boats on the river are all controlled by CBP and the Border Patrol. As I understand it, this area is also full of sensors, cameras, sirens and many border patrol boats. This is not surprising, as it is just a mile from the port of entry and the border patrol is more strongly deployed around the ports. I can also say that I don’t believe that could have been done without the approval of the Border Patrol. ”
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment, but a spokesman denied Budd’s claim last week that the network shared a “fake” report.
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“CNN did not participate in any kind of coordinated effort to film a staged scene of migrants crossing the river, nor did we find any reliable evidence to suggest that our team was unconsciously part of a Border Patrol setup or anyone else,” Strategic Communications CNN Matt Dornic tweeted on March 18.
Dornic too insisted that the shared videos “were not the same day”.
Fox News also contacted Budd and US Customs and Border Protection for comment.