November 27, 2018

Disrupting Fox News Narrative, Geraldo Rivera Blasts Inhumane Treatment of Migrants at Border

“These are not invaders. Stop using these military analogies.”

For a fleeting moment on Monday, Fox News viewers witnessed a lengthy, if not forceful, rebuke of the treatment of the caravan of Central American migrants attempting to enter the United States from one of the network’s top personalities.

That criticism came from Geraldo Rivera, who, to the apparent surprise of fellow Fox News commentator Jesse Watters, derisively referred to himself as the “designated pinata” of the network. “That’s racist!” Watters sarcastically shot back. Ignoring his colleague, Rivera then delivered an emotional plea blasting the use of tear gas on migrants and the depiction of asylum-seekers as militarized “invaders.”

“I am ashamed. This tear gas choked me,” Rivera said. “We treat these people, these economic refugees as if they’re zombies from the ‘The Walking Dead.'”

“We have to deal with this problem humanely and with compassion,” he continued. “These are not invaders. Stop using these military analogies. This is absolutely painful to watch. We are a nation of immigrants. These are desperate people, they walk 2,000 miles, why? Because they want to rape your daughter and steal your lunch? No!”

The comment appeared to take aim at conservative narratives, amplified by President Donald Trump, that have portrayed migrants as “rapists” and criminals.

But Rivera’s rogue remarks, which came just hours after Fox News featured a guest that suggested the contents of tear-gas were so harmless they could be used to flavor “nachos,” are unlikely to change the network’s immigration coverage, which regularly features fear-mongering headlines and commentary that seeks to paint asylum-seekers as disease-carriers and criminals attempting to flood the country.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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