NewsChannel 5 gives; tomorrow it will take away

Promos for tomorrow's NewsChannel 5 evening newscast tout a story of illegal immigrants on the run from the law because of their criminal records.

Saturday at least, thanks to Phil Jones, Jeff Tang and Brent Frasier, the station's news operation looked at Hispanics as victims, such as with the case of Juana Villegas DeLaPaz and her newborn son.

Yet promos for tomorrow point to a renewal of the station's fear-mongering reporting -- initialized last fall by anchor/reporter Scott Arnold in a series on the Electorlux plant in Springfield. NewsChannel 5 unfortunately represents the norm of predominant coverage locally and nationally of the growing Hispanic presence in this state and nation.

Tomorrow's story just boosts the station's focus on Hispanics as a law-breaking threat in Middle Tennessee. It also gives support to Councilman Eric Crafton and his secret contributors who are pushing a petition for a fall referendum called "English First". It demands that English be the official language for Metro Nashville government.

If the station and Arnold invested the time in more thoroughly investigating the Hispanic presence, particularly in the county that boasts of its most viewers, they'd be reporting different stories that look at the civil rights offenses against all immigrants, legally here or not.

Because of Davidson C ounty Sheriff Daron Hall's 287g deportation program, more than 1,5o0 immigrants LEGALLY in this state and nation were detained and questioned for at least hours by his department, according to statistics provided by the sheriff's community advisory board.

That's a helluva lot of people to be rousted during the past 14 months for being LEGALLY here.

* From 4/16-/07 to June 30 of this year, the total, foreign-born people booked and interviewed -- 5,037.

*Total placed in removal(deportation) proceedings -- 3,508.

Do the math. That leaves 1,529 immigrants wrongly questioned over their legal status in this country over the past 14 months.

So if NewsChannel 5's report tomorrow evening can specifically cite more than 1,529 immigrants fleeing the law over their criminal record, then I will apologize for criticizing their reporting beforehand based only on station promotions.

If the reporting cannot cite more than 1,529 immigrants as fleeing the law and their criminal records over the past 14 months, then something is terribly wrong in the focus of the station's reporting.

We'll be watching. And so will members of Sheriff Hall's advisory board, whose advice in treating immigrants humanely and fairly under 287g is being ignored. Hall did not even invite members of his own advisory board to his press conference several months ago touting the success of 287g in deporting more than 3,000 immigrants.

So the sheriff is ignoring the advice of community members on his 287g advisory board? Why?

Sounds like a heck of a story in regards to public policy and civil rights in supposedly progressive Nashville. Let's see if NewsChannel 5 ever gets around to reporting it. I'm willing to provide any media outlet the names of members who would speak on the record -- if fairness and balance is the intent of the news operation in regards to the Hispanic presence here.