Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Be Aware of the Headline

Headline from my local wannabe newspaper on 8/19/18:

“ICE ARRESTS MAN DRIVING HIS WIFE TO DELIVER BABY”
A common  reaction to a headline like this would be something like: “ICE is vicious and nasty! They arrested this poor man who is driving his pregnant wife, who is in labor, to the hospital. How unfeeling! In this potentially emergent situation, couldn’t thy have waited until the wife was safely at the hospital?”
After looking into the situation further perhaps this headline could have instead read:
“ILLEGAL WANTED FOR MURDER IN MEXICO ARRESTED WHILE STOPPING FOR GAS”
Both of these headlines are technically correct, but the initial headline that was published in my local newspaper was taken from The Washington Post (WaPo).This is an excellent example of slanted news coverage, meaning that although the WaPo headline is technically correct, it does not come close to telling “the rest of the story!”
What is the rest of the story? (Most of the following is from the Associated Press)
Well to start with both Joel Arrona Lara and his pregnant wife are illegals from Mexico. They came to the U.S. 12 years ago from Leon in the Guanajuato State in Mexico. He is 35, and she is 32. They have four other children, all of whom were supposedly born in the U.S.  He was driving her to the hospital for an elective Caesarian section on 8/15/18. Even though he was driving, he had no identification with him. (In essence he was driving without a license, although it is possible that he did, in fact, have a valid California driver’s license, as just about anybody can get a driver’s license here in Cali-Mexicania!) Yes, his wife was on her way to the hospital to deliver a baby by an elective C-section. She was not in labor. They were stopped for gas – not speeding hellbent because her delivery was imminent. Interestingly, since this was an elective procedure, it means that she had some sort of medical insurance. Was she on Medi-Cal? If so, has this been how she has been able to have five children in the U.S., while being an illegal?
As far as Mr. Lara is concerned, he is wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant for a killing in Mexico. An official in the Mexican state of Guanajuato confirmed this on 8/20/18. The husband’s attorney claims that the arrested illegal is the victim of mistaken identity, and that his client “denies any criminal history in Mexico, and is unaware of any criminal proceedings in which he is named as a defendant.”
Perhaps this is a case of mistaken identity. It is possible. It is unfortunate that he was arrested as he was transporting his pregnant wife to the hospital, although I find it hard to believe that ICE knew that before approaching him in the gas station.
This entire situation could have been avoided by the categorization scheme that  I proposed in a blog in late April of this year (“Are All Illegals the Same?”). For those of you not familiar with my categorization plan, I would suggest that you read this April blog in its entirety.
My take-away from this story . . .”Be very leery of anything that comes from WaPo!”

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