Little Discussion about Immigration Occurred on This Weekend's  Sunday Morning 
​Public Affairs Programs

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Click the Play Button, above, to see excerpts of instances in which the subjects of immigration or xenophobia were discussed during the July 12, 2020, Sunday public affairs programs.

For the third consecutive week, news coverage of the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic and of the 2020 presidential campaign crowded out coverage of almost any other issue on the five top Sunday public affairs news programs, leaving little room for any discussions or comments about immigration, refugees, xenophobia on the July 12, 2020 editions of those programs.

The only mentions alluding to immigration, immigrants, or xenophobia during the programs this week came from the panel on FOX's Fox News Sunday, which commented on President Trump's confusing announcement on a forthcoming executive action he plans to take on immigration and DACA; and NBC's Kristen Welker, who commented on President Trump's base's support for building the wall.

​A summary of the discussions that took place during the July 12, 2020, editions of the Sunday morning public affairs programs, along with a link to video of those discussions, follows:

Sunday, June 28, 2020

For nearly two years, immigration stakeholders and policymakers awaited action in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on the legality of the Trump Administration's September 2017 attempt to end the popular Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). As late June of 2020 approached, the pro-immigrant advocacy community braced itself for what it thought would certainly be a decision affirming the Administration's authority to rescind DACA.  However, in a totally unexpected decision, on Thursday, June 18, 2020, SCOTUS ruled that the Administration improperly moved to rescind DACA, saving, for now at least, the hundreds of thousands of young people brought to the United States illegally while they were children. 

The long-awaited SCOTUS DACA decision was just one of five consequential decisions issued by SCOTUS and lower federal courts on immigration matters in recent days.

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Discussions about Immigration and Xenophobia Occur on All Five of This Weekend's Major Sunday
​Morning Public Affairs Programs

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Click the Play Button, above, to see excerpts of instances in which the subjects of immigration or xenophobia were discussed during the June 21, 2020, Sunday public affairs programs.

News coverage of the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings spawned, have continued to dominate news coverage on the cable news networks and in newspapers across the country.  Notwithstanding that, however, because of last Thursday's decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), there was plenty of talk about immigration and xenophobia during the June 21, 2020, editions. of the five most prominent Sunday morning public affairs programs.

Among those discussing, mentioning, or alluding to immigration, immigrants, or xenophobia during the programs this week were Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, ABC News's Cecilia Vega, Trump campaign Aide Mercedes Schlapp, Republican strategist Al Cardenas, and Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro.

​A summary of the discussions that took place during the June 21, 2020, Sunday morning public affairs programs, along with a link to video of those discussions, follows:

Friday, June 19, 2020

Introduced by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA) and cosponsored by 230 Members of Congress (all Democrats), the measure is a reaction to the deaths over the last several weeks of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Atlanta, Georgia, and the widespread protests and civil unrest that those killings have spawned. 

​While the measure has few explicit references to immigrants, it is believed that its provisions relating to federal law enforcement agencies and officers would apply to federal immigration authorities, and the measure deals with racial profiling at both the federal and local levels.

Trump Boasts About Border Wall Construction Progress and Accuses Democrats of
Wanting Open Borders During
​Rose Garden Press Availability

Friday, June 5, 2020

Click on the Play Button to see video of immigration excerpt from press availability

President Trump today boasted about progress he says is being made constructing the border wall he has promised to build between the United States and Mexico and charged Democrats in Congress  with wanting open borders.  The President's remarks came during a June 5, 2020, press availability in the White House Rose Garden as he prepared to sign the "Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020" into law.

In his remarks, the President boasted that the wall he promised to build is now "up to 210 miles long" and predicted that "we'll have it up to almost 500 miles very early next year."  Continuing, he said that "by the end of this year we'll be over 400 miles."

Calling the wall "serious" and "very, very powerful," the President asserted that "people are not penetrating it" and that "it will be up there a very long time."

The President accused Democrats of engaging him in a "warlike posture." but mused that, nonetheless, "maybe we can get along." 

President Trump asserted during his remarks that getting the money necessary to build the wall was "one of the hardest things I have ever had to do," criticizing Democrats as being "totally opposed to it."

Trump Boasts About Border Wall Construction and His Brazil Travel Ban During Oval Office Press Availability

Friday, May 29, 2020

Click on the Play Button to see video of immigration excerpts from press availability

President Trump yesterday boasted about the progress and effectiveness of the border wall he is building between the U.S. and Mexico, praised the government of Mexico for deploying troops along its border to control illegal immigration, praised the effectiveness of his efforts to close the border between U.S. and Mexico, and extolled the virtues of his travel ban with Brazil.  The President's remarks came during a May 28, 2020, press availability following an Oval Office briefing he and the First Lady received on 2020 hurricane preparations.

In his remarks, the President boasted that "almost 200 miles" of "brand new" wall between the U.S. and Mexico has been built, that "close to 400 miles" will be built by the end of the year, and that there will be "close to 500 miles" built by early next year.  He declared that no illegal crossings were occurring where the wall has been built, saying "wherever we have the wall, the issue of illegal border crossings  "virtually ceases as a problem."

Trump asserted that "record low numbers" of people are entering the United States along the country's southwest border and that in the cases where people do come in, "we take them immediately out" under emergency powers his administration is using. 

The President also praised the Mexican government for deploying 26,000 of its troops on its border and boasted about the "very strong" ban that his Administration has imposed on travel from Brazil, noting that United States citizens are allowed to come back in "under a very strict process."