The Disturbing Rise of Government 'Fact Checks'

DHS is packaging spin as verification — borrowing the language of journalism to delegitimize it.

Imitation, the saying goes, is the sincerest form of flattery.

As fact-checking has grown and become an effective way to call out official lies, some governments have responded with their own “fact checks” — in effect, propaganda that defends falsehoods as truth. Russia, for instance, has even created a faux fact-checking network to mimic the International Fact-Checking Network, a community of legitimate fact checkers.

Now the Homeland Security Department is producing its own so-called “fact checks,” designed to combat what it considers media bias about its aggressive actions to round up and deport undocumented immigrants. The videos, which air on X, feature a department flack who sounds like she drank too much coffee and include “false” stamps that look like they were borrowed from Lead Stories (a legitimate fact checker).

The most recent video, posted Nov. 16, earned 165,000 views in the first 24 hours. But if you listen closely, the aim is not to debunk stories but to delegitimize traditional news reporting. The flack’s snarky commentary rails against “fake news” and “disgusting lies and smear from radical journalist hacks.” But when you dig into the stories she supposedly debunks, the reporters were only guilty of reporting the news in a balanced way, rather than just regurgitating administration spin.

That’s what real journalists do: they talk to all sides in order to come to an understanding of what happened. Sometimes the truth emerges in bits and pieces, and sometimes journalists get it wrong. But no journalist would accept just the official account unless he or she is indeed a hack.

Before we look at the specifics of this video, it’s worth recalling that the DHS itself is guilty of posting misleading videos. The Washington Post reported that the department used misleading footage in at least six videos, such as alleged examples of past administrations’ failures that actually were recorded during Trump’s first term. That’s the kind of sloppy work that would get a real journalist fired.

This week’s video featured three news events. Let’s look at what the DHS flack says and then what traditional outlets reported.

“First, we have another disgusting pepper spray hoax. Guys, ICE does not pepper spray children. Here are the facts. During an operation, rioters began throwing objects at agents and blocking the roof. This did not occur in a Sam’s Club parking lot. Border Patrol deployed crowd control measures and safely cleared the area. When rioters impede law enforcement operation, they are putting others in danger. These journalists should stop smearing ICE law enforcement and start covering the facts.”

The video features a Washington Post article, headlined “ICE accused of pepper-spraying 1-year-old girl and her dad near Chicago,” so let’s examine that. The article reported on a news conference making the accusation.

“A father, his 1-year-old daughter and other family members were pepper-sprayed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents when they were going grocery shopping in a Chicago suburb last week, the family and supporters said Sunday at a news conference. The episode unfolded on Saturday in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club in Cicero, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, said Rafael Veraza, the father. The family — who are all U.S. citizens, according to their supporters — canceled plans to buy groceries and was trying to drive out of the area after seeing a helicopter and hearing sirens that suggested a protest nearby.”

The article does not mention it, but the family released a video that appears to show some sort of chemical irritant being thrown into the family’s car.

The DHS “fact check” seems to place great stock in the fact that the ICE action did not take place in a Sam’s Club parking lot. But at the news conference, Veraza said he was pulling out of it. (The Post story gets that detail wrong.)

Moreover, the Post story reports DHS’s comment — exactly what the “fact check” video claims did not happen.

“The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said on X that its agents do not pepper-spray children and that the alleged event did not occur in a Sam’s Club parking lot. The department added that ‘rioters’ had thrown objects at agents and blocked the road during an operation. ICE referred to the DHS statement in response to an overnight request for comment.”

In other words, the newspaper gave its readers a balanced account of the incident.

“Our next fake news story is truly insane. Imagine faking a seizure to help a criminal escape justice! The target of this operation was a dangerous criminal illegal alien from Ecuador who stabbed her co-worker repeatedly with a pair of scissors and then threw a trash can at her. Emergency medical personnel on the scene found no legitimate medical episode. ICE called 911, and this illegal alien even refused any medical care. Once again, the fake news completely failed to report the facts.”

The Boston Globe is on the hot seat this time, for an article titled, “Video shows ICE agents in Fitchburg struggling with man having apparent seizure, holding toddler in car.”

But, contrary to the DHS claim, the Globe article reports ICE’s perspective in the very first paragraph.

“A Fitchburg man involved in a violent struggle with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday said an agent pushed him, hit around his ribs, and pressed on his neck, causing him to become unconscious as he clung to his wife and young daughter. After a video of the incident went viral, the federal government said agents were targeting the man’s wife after she allegedly stabbed a co-worker in the hand and accused the man of faking a medical emergency to help her evade authorities.”

This is called journalism, folks.

While the DHS “fact check” claims the mother is dangerous, the Globe notes that the charges are still allegations. Her husband is quoted as saying his “wife’s pending criminal case in Leominster District Court had been blown out of proportion, and that his wife had been attending all her court dates. She has pleaded not guilty, and the case is still pending.”

As for whether there was no “legitimate medical episode,” the Globe says the father “went to the hospital for medical assistance, where he remained until about 3 a.m. on Friday, he said. Medical professionals said his neck looked healthy, but that he had bruises on his body.”

The couple currently have a pending asylum case and valid work authorization. Their daughter was born in the United States.

“Last but not least, the New York Times ran a ridiculous piece about this illegal alien who, by the way, looks like he’s sitting on a throne claiming he’s quote, unquote, living in a nightmare. This man broke the law when he illegally entered the US through the southern border. All of his claims were heard and found not to be valid. What’s missing from this headline is the majority of illegal aliens on this flight were known or suspected terrorists and human smugglers. DHS will not cower to disgusting lies and smear from radical journalist hacks and sanctuary politicians.”

The main objection here appears to the headline on the New York Times report: “‘It Feels Like I’m in a Nightmare’: Inside the First Deportation Flight to Iran.”

The article provides an interesting and lengthy account — factual and not filled with “disgusting lies” — of how the Trump administration is deporting undocumented immigrants who fled Iran, focused in particular one person deported, Mehrdad Dalir. “For decades, waves of Iranians fleeing persecution found protection in the United States, including many who were at first unauthorized but later gained asylum,” the Times noted.

The Times quotes a DHS spokesperson as asserting that “of the 54 Iranians deported on the flight, 23 had ties to terrorism, seven were on the terror watch list and five others were associated with human trafficking networks.” The facts of these cases are unclear, including the strength of the evidence.

“Mr. Dalir and at least eight other individuals fiercely resisted deportation, according to his and other deportees’ accounts,” The Times said. “They repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them and that they feared for their lives. Among them were Christian converts, ethnic minorities and political dissidents.”

Throughout the story of Dalir’s travails, a DHS spokesperson is quoted either disputing or quibbling with some of his points. One deportee interviewed for the article has already fled Iran, fearing for his safety, but Dalir’s passport has been confiscated and he has been in hiding to avoid being questioned by security forces.

The Bottom Line

These so-called “fact checks” are part of the administration’s attack on objective journalism. Any report that might cast an undocumented immigrant in a positive light — or call into question the official government version — is treated as fake news.

The hyperbolic tone of the video is intended to make Americans distrust and dismiss traditional news reports, even if they dutifully quote from the DHS talking points. That’s because, in this administration, there are no nuances, no mistakes and no forgiveness.