It’s been a real doozy for the mainstream press covering the migrant caravan as it attempts to barrel through Tijuana, Mexico, given that many Mexican citizens have been less-than-welcoming to the foreign invaders.
“Demonstrators held signs reading ‘No illegals,’ ‘No to the invasion’ and ‘Mexico First.’ Many wore the country’s red, white and green national soccer jersey and vigorously waved Mexican flags,” according to NPR. “The crowd often slipped into chants of ‘Ti-jua-na!’ and ‘Me-xi-co!’ They sang the national anthem several times.”
After several years of calling President Donald J. Trump a racist, and now months of calling him a “white supremacist” due to his protectionist notions and self-described nationalism, the corporate media must be shocked to learn that supporting your own country does not, in fact, make you a racist. Perhaps this small conundrum is why much of the mainstream press has failed to cover the Tijuana protests completely.
“We want the caravan to go; they are invading us,” said Patricia Reyes, a 62-year-old protester, according to the report. “They should have come into Mexico correctly, legally, but they came in like animals.'”
“Tijuana is a place that welcomes anyone, but you must have papers, you must identify yourself,” protestor Magdalena Baltazar reportedly said. “We work hard here. We don’t get handouts. The government shouldn’t be giving things to migrants when plenty of Mexicans are in a difficult position.”
These sound a lot like the talking points of American Republicans, whom the leftwing press constantly accuses of hatred of immigrants. Surely, the press wouldn’t call Mexicans bigots, would they? Well…
Big League Politics reported:
A popular Qatari-owned media organization called Mexican citizens of Tijuana who bucked the migrant caravan as “xenophobic.”
“Is xenophobia growing in Mexico?” AJ+ asked in a video highlighting Mexican citizens protesting a horde of illegal migrants moving through the region.
“Hundreds of Mexicans held an anti-immigrant protest near the U.S. border and injured Central Americans,” the video said.
Of course, AJ+ left out the crucial subtlety that makes this a debate in the first place – these are not simply “immigrants,” they are illegal immigrants. There is a genuine debate to be had over whether countries should be allowed to defend their borders, and most sane people would agree that they should. What defines a nation if not its borders? The network, which usually targets white, American Republicans with its race-baiting segments, took an extraordinary leap in targeting Mexicans, whom they often depict as victims of racism by Americans.
It turns out, people of all races and creeds genuinely care about the self-interests of their own nations. Who would have thought?