November 12, 2004

CNN’s Maria Hinojosa—Mexican Mouthpiece

By Joe Guzzardi

In its October documentary, "Immigrant Nation; Divided Country," CNN pitted the philosophies of two tenacious Georgia-based immigration reform activists, VDARE.COM contributor D.A. King  and Jimmy Herchek, against the true life histories of two illegal aliens, "Rosa" and "Gabe.”

But what the one-hour special unwittingly revealed is Mexican-born anchor Maria Hinojosa's blind commitment to open borders. [E-mail: maria.hinojosa@turner.net]

When a reporter has as long a history of pro-immigration bias as Hinojosa does, her story—despite the CNN hype to the contrary—cannot be fair and balanced.

Viewers barely had time to settle into their sofas before Hinojosa, commenting on the 300% increase in the Hispanic population in Georgia over a decade, predicted that King and Herchek's efforts to end illegal immigration are doomed.

Hinojosa said:

"D.A. is a man on a mission trying to stop what he calls a veritable modern day invasion. But look around and anyone can tell him it's a losing battle. Georgia has one of the fastest growing Latino populations in the country. And despite some resistance, these people have found a place for themselves. An average of 90 immigrants arrives here every day."

No worries as far as Hinojosa is concerned. After all, she observed that:

"Ten years ago when I first came to Georgia, I asked people if there was a Latino neighborhood or barrio. I got a lot of strange looks. Now, I'm here in the heart of just one of the many Latino barrios in Georgia. I can get some of the best tacos outside of Mexico right here 24 hours a day."

Tacos—that's more important to Hinojosa than overcrowded schools, hospitals… or the nation to which she swore allegiance when she became a U.S. citizen.

(Apparently, Hinojosa is only comfortable in the U.S. when she has ready access to Mexican food. Read her comical, self-serving autobiographical essay "Living La Vida Latina" wherein she describes herself as a "Latina without borders" who prefers the fresh corn tortillas in Chicago to the frozen white ones in New York….as if anyone cares.)

Predictably…oh so predictably… Hinojosa found sob story candidates to further her none-too-subtle open borders agenda.

First, the audience met Gabe, the assistant food and beverage manager at the Dillard House, a multimillion-dollar resort and a Georgia landmark.

Gabe came to the U.S legally from Mexico on a tourist visa to visit Disneyland. But instead of going home, he paid $120.00 each for a fake green card and social security card and eventually landed his job at Dillard supervising other illegal alien waiters and kitchen help.

Gabe describes his working day:

"I work six in the morning to 10, 11 all day. But for me it's normal. In my time that I work here, I don't see American people in the kitchen. The American people stay for the better jobs. Maybe they say, 'I don't like to earn $7 per hour, $8 per hour.' The American people say, 'Oh no, I like for me 15, 18, 20.' But the Mexican people, it's six, seven, $8 per hour.

Hinojosa wants us to think: "Look how hard working these 'immigrants' (her word of choice) are."

King gave me his very different analysis:           

"According to the transcript, Gabe works 14-16 hours a day 6 days a week for $25, 000 a year. Assuming 14 hours a day and two weeks vacation, that comes to less than $ 6.00 an hour."

(To contact John Dillard, who profits by exploiting illegal aliens, send e-mail via the Dillard House contact page. And to report Dillard for the felony charge of harboring ten or more illegal aliens within one year, call Atlanta Special Agent, Bureau of Immigration Control and Enforcement, Ken Smith 770 994 4200. Finally, social security fraud can be reported here.)

Moving to the next tear-jerking story, Hinojosa introduces us to Rosa who recently paid $5,000 to coyotes to smuggle her children across the border. They were apprehended and deported.

Rosa ("I just came to work ...") is undaunted.

According the transcript, Rosa

"calculates it will take her several months to save enough to try the dangerous crossing again. Every day, she's able to work and make a few dollars is a day closer to a reunion with her children. Hers is a hard, lonely struggle."

The details surrounding Rosa's story are confusing. Although she claims that she is saving every penny to again illegally transport her children from Mexico to the U.S., Rosa is also referred to as "not working" and seen driving a late model car while speaking on a cellular phone.

Finally, as VDARE.COM readers are painfully aware, no illegal alien saga is complete without a life threatening medical crisis.

And guess what? Gabe Jr. barely escaped death after doctors performed a (taxpayer-funded) emergency appendectomy.

Gabe Jr. survives. But Gabe's wife Irma is dying from ovarian cancer.

Cancer is a tragic ordeal for any family. But when you have read—as I have—thousands of pieces that gratuitously throw in deadly diseases to suggest that isolated cases should dictate a federal open borders policy for millions, I can't help but be cynical.

In the end, "Immigrant Nation, Divided Country," revealed Hinojosa, winner of the National Council of La Raza Ruben Salazar Award, as a shameless Mexican mouthpiece. Hinojosa showed her true colors in pre and post-documentary interviews.

Proving that her ethnic identity politics should have disqualified her from reporting on the wave of illegal aliens in Georgia, Hinosoja told Atlanta Latino that she was surprised to find that Atlanta has become a "mini-Mexico" and that "as a Mexican" the "immigrants are my countrymen and countrywomen."

Hinojosa further commented that:

"The situation they are in saddens me. Now there is more hatred around them and they confront tougher human difficulties when crossing the border. I want the American people to look at themselves in the mirror and think about what the future will be, and think about where we will end up if we continue with this kind of hatred and division, if immigrants continue to not have a voice. If they don't have resources they will continue to be victims. (The contradiction of the United States, By Melissa Rincón, October21, 2004)

Finally, Hinojosa plays the immigration enthusiast's trump card…that immigration reformers are just Nazis.

This exchange took place between Hinosoja and fellow CNN anchor Kelli Arena:

Arena: I notice you didn't use the term illegal immigrant. There's even some controversy over that term itself, isn't there?

HINOJOSA: Absolutely. Well, the people who are fighting against these immigrants, and they wouldn't even say that they're immigrants, they called them illegal aliens and that's the only term they will use. That's a very controversial term. If you listen to the teachings of Eli Wiesel, who won a Nobel Peace Prize, he was a survivor of the Holocaust. He always said that there is no such thing as an illegal human being. There can be an illegal action, what they have done is criminal. But to call them illegal is—once you label somebody illegal, it sets up perhaps what he says the potential of declaring these people illegal, and therefore the result was, in his case, the Holocaust."

As soon as the open borders crowd plays the Holocaust card, you can be sure it can't make an intelligent argument to support its position.

Interestingly, I learned that Hinojosa is not the only subversive in her family. Her brother Raul is a reconquista agitator at the University of California at Los Angeles. (e-mail: raulhinojosa@comcast.net)

Another brother, Jorge, also lives in California and is active in pro-Mexican causes.

Given their dedication to the advancement of Mexicans, wouldn't Maria, Raul and Jorge be better off working and living where their efforts might really pay off--like in Mexico?

As Hinosoja herself said,

"As a Mexican, I think the Mexican government is also to blame because it's a wealthy country and there's no reason for Mexicans to have to flee from it. The Mexican government allows people to leave, so the blood of those who die are on their hands as well as on the hands of the U.S. government."

Please Maria, do us all a favor and go home.

Your people need you.

We don't.