On November 1, 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles criticized four Colorado newspapers for publishing articles that day about an Urban Institute and National Council of La Raza study on the impact of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worksite raids on children of illegal immigrants. Boyles accused the Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post, the Greeley Tribune, and the Fort Collins Coloradoan of practicing “advocacy journalism” by “tak[ing] something funded by La Raza and us[ing] it as a news story.” However, Boyles failed to mention that in addition to reporting the study's findings, the newspapers all included criticism of the study from immigration officials and other sources.

The study -- “Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children” -- examined “three communities that experienced large-scale worksite raids within the past year: Greeley, Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska; and New Bedford, Massachusetts.” The Rocky Mountain News article reported that Greeley “was the most deeply affected of three communities that had large immigration enforcement sweeps,” and noted that "[l]ast year, in a raid on the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Greeley, 201 children had at least one parent among the 273 arrested." The News further reported the study's conclusion “that the raids caused children and infants to become separated from their parents, left families without their primary breadwinners, and caused emotional trauma for children of parents who were arrested.” The study also offered recommendations on how ICE, Congress, local schools, and social service agencies can help lessen the impact of worksite raids on the children of illegal immigrants.

After reading from the News article on air, Boyles asked, “Who pays for the study? La Raza pays for the study,” adding, “Why don't we have the [Ku Klux] Klan play, pay for a study on black crime?” He later called the News article “an ad” and “a propaganda piece.” But Boyles failed to mention that the article he was attacking included criticism of the study from ICE officials who “said parents are to blame for the harm from the raids,” according to the News.

Later in the broadcast, after reading from the first three paragraphs of the News article on air, Boyles stopped short after beginning to read the fourth paragraph, which included criticism of the study:

BOYLES: Just let me read the first couple paragraphs, then we'll compare and contrast the Post. “Dateline: Greeley. A study released Wednesday on the impact of immigration work site raids on children shows that Northern Colorado community has the most deeply affected of three communities that has large immigration enforcement sweeps.”

Second paragraph: “Last year, in a raid on the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Greeley, 201 children had at least one parent among the 273 arrested, according to the report commissioned by the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group, and the Urban Institute.” The Urban Institute's about a bubble behind them. And they say “a nonprofit.”

“In all,” writes [reporter] Fernando [Quintero], “there were more than a dozen pregnant women were taken into custody.” Guys -- well, never mind.

“Federal officials and supporters of stricter immigration” -- dada-da, dada-da. Then they have a picture of Rosala, who declined to give her last name, and Marina, down in the bottom, who declined to give her last name.

The section of the article that Boyles omitted reads:

Federal officials and supporters of stricter immigration enforcement criticized the study, saying the blame for such consequences was misplaced. They say that parents who immigrate illegally are responsible for the effect the enforcement has on their children.

Still later, after a caller remarked that the News article's headline -- “Study: Kids hit hard by Greeley raid” -- should have cast blame on the illegal immigrants themselves, Boyles agreed but again neglected to mention that the article included similar criticism of the study. In fact, in addition to reporting general criticism of the Urban Institute/La Raza study by "[f]ederal officials and supporters of stricter immigration enforcement," the News specifically cited criticism by ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok and Bob Dane, director of communications at the anti-immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):

But ICE said parents are to blame for the harm from the raids.

“The responsibility for the negative impacts of our work-site enforcement actions lies squarely on the shoulders of those who violated our immigration laws,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok.

“It should not be on the agency responsible for upholding the law,” he added.

Bob Dane, spokesman for the Federation for American Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that supports reduced immigration, said illegal immigrants were “hiding behind their children as a justification not to be deported.”

“Every time we have a work-site enforcement action, the blame is shifted to the agency that is simply doing their job,” he said. “The blame needs to go to parents who put their children in jeopardy, and employers who are hiring people illegally.”

Boyles similarly attacked the Post, the Tribune, and the Coloradoan for reporting “the same thing” as the News, calling the November 1 articles “advocacy journalism.” However, just as he did with the News, Boyles ignored each newspaper's reported criticism of the study.

Like the News, the Post also quoted an ICE spokesman's comments:

A national spokesman for ICE said Wednesday that it is not the agency's fault that kids' live were disrupted.

“This report takes the bizarre position that ICE is somehow responsible for family disruption caused by parents who make poor decisions,” ICE's Tim Counts said. “Everyone understands that parents are responsible for their actions and the resulting impact on their families.”

The Tribune quoted Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck's opposition to the study's criticism of how the raids were conducted:

Ken Buck, Weld district attorney, said it's ICE's policy to not deport single mothers with children in the United States or both parents of a child, and that officials have to decide whether to enforce the law.

“It's important to look at the effect on victims of crime,” Buck said. “If an illegal immigrant is in the country and commits homicide, the person leaves a widow and children, and those children have problems too.”

In addition to reporting Counts' criticism, the Coloradoan also quoted a member of Northern Coloradans for Immigration Reduction:

But a spokesman for ICE said it's not the agency's fault that kids' lives are disrupted.

“This report takes the bizarre position that ICE is somehow responsible for family disruption caused by parents who make poor decisions,” ICE spokesman Tim Counts said. “Law enforcement agencies across the nation arrest people who have children every day. Everyone understands that parents are responsible for their actions and the resulting impact on their families.”

Stephen Yurash, a Fort Collins resident and member of Northern Coloradoans for Immigrant Reduction, agrees.

“The separation is the choice of the parents, not the American government or people,” Yurash said. “If there is any emotional distress, it is a result of the actions of the parents.”

The separation could be ended if the children were returned with the parents to the parent's country of origin, he said.

Policy shouldn't be changed because of the potential negative effects on children, Yurash said.

“What are you going to do, not detain them because the child is upset?” he asked.

Finally, while criticizing the Post, Boyles revived the falsehood that children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are “anchor” babies who exempt the parents from deportation proceedings. As Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, the birth of a child in the United States does not affect either parent's status as an illegal immigrant; federal law stipulates that U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants must wait until they are 21 to petition for their parents to be given legal status.

Colorado Media Matters has further noted that according to a November 2004 report in The New York Times, "[I]mmigration experts say there are tens of thousands of children every year who lose a parent to deportation." In fact, federal courts have “upheld the refusal by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (I.N.S.) to stay the deportation of illegal aliens” simply because they have children who are U.S.-born, according to a May 12, 2006, Congressional Research Service report.

From the November 1 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

BOYLES: Now, the worst of -- and, again, why I have given up totally on the newspapers. If you have your morning Rocky Mountain News -- and, again, shame on you, John Temple. Shame on you. Big full page with color photos. Full page. “Study: Kids hit hard by Greeley raid.” Page 5. “Blame the illegal immigrants, some say, not enforcers.” That's the small headline. Guess whose study these people are citing for a full page in the Rocky Mountain News. The National Council of La Raza. La -- Here it is: “Last year the raid on the Swift Company meat processing plant in Greeley, 201 children with at least one parent among 273 arrested. According to the report, commissioned by the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group, and the Urban Institute.”

Now, they cite that. And they cite in the study “the study concludes that the raised, the raids caused children and infants to become separated from their parents, left families without primary breadwinners, and caused emotional trauma.” Who pays for the study? La Raza pays for the study. Why don't we have the [Ku Klux] Klan play, pay for a study on black crime? Why don't we do this? You think that they would run this? Do you know what La Raza advocates? This is amazing stuff. The Rocky Mountain News, full page, “Study: Kids hit hard by Greeley raid.” As though it's a news story. And the study was sanctioned by, paid for -- and by the way, if you understand how this works, if you pay the band you get to call the tune. If you give a dance, you have to pay the band. So if I commission a study that's what I, that's the outcome I want. And they give it a full page in the Rocky Mountain News: “Kids hit hard by Greeley raid.” Paid for by La Raza. This is an ad. I mean, this is like when you understand what [New York Gov. Eliot] Spitzer's doing with driver's licenses [for illegal immigrants], it's amnesty. Get it? It's amnesty. It's this whole notion of give me the pie -- I'll give you half of the pie -- I'll be back next week for the pie -- I'll give you half of the pie; now you got what you want. This is another one of those shady deals.

[...]

BOYLES: And it's unbelievable. And they write -- this stuff is like, “Here's the conclusions, here's what this is.” As though it's some kind of gospel. Folks, it's a propaganda piece. Folks, I mean, well, John Temple, shame on you. Shame on you for doing this. They have this picture -- right, “while pregnant with 6-month-old Laura, Marina, who declined to give her last name, was detained by immigration officials after she got caught in Greeley.” I wonder what language they spoke to Marina in. Come on. Come to the dance. At least be honest about it. You know, “Hey, here's what we want you to believe.” What's Homer Simpson always say? So long, suckers.

[...]

BOYLES: Now, I get to my Denver Post this morning -- Denver & the West. Headline: “Swift raid effects still felt.” Full page. And, by the way, guess who turns up? It's the exact same picture. Look at the front page of Denver & the West, which is the, you know, local section for the Rocky -- excuse me, for The Denver Post. They have Marina. Morning Rocky Mountain News, corner photo: It's Marina. Marina's on the other page. Both pictures have Marina. On the Rocky Mountain News, the page in the right corner -- excuse me, the right-corner photo: “While pregnant with 6-month-old Laura, Marina, who declined to give her last name, was detained by immigration officials.” Front page of The Denver Post Denver & the West: “Marina, carrying Laura, holds back tears during a news conference Wednesday in Greeley, where a report on December's immigration raid was released. Marina was arrested in the raid, has four children born in the U.S.” I wonder who the dads or dads are of this. I wonder who's paying for the children. They're called “anchors.”

[...]

BOYLES: Just let me read the first couple paragraphs, then we'll compare and contrast the Post. “Dateline: Greeley. A study released Wednesday on the impact of immigration work site raids on children shows that Northern Colorado community has the most deeply affected of three communities that has large immigration enforcement sweeps.”

Second paragraph: “Last year, in a raid on the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Greeley, 201 children had at least one parent among the 273 arrested, according to the report commissioned by the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy group, and the Urban Institute.” The Urban Institute's about a bubble behind them. And they say “a nonprofit.”

“In all,” writes [reporter] Fernando [Quintero], “there were more than a dozen pregnant women were taken into custody.” Guys -- well, never mind.

“Federal officials and supporters of stricter immigration” -- dada-da, dada-da. Then they have a picture of Rosala, who declined to give her last name, and Marina, down in the bottom, who declined to give her last name.

[...]

CALLER: Well, I mean, I think every, any thinking person can look at this and come to a reasonable conclusion. But, instead of saying, “Study: Kids hit hard by Greeley raid,” it should say, “Study: Kids hit hard by the illegal actions of their parents.”

BOYLES: But it doesn't say -- I mean, it shouldn't say anything. It shouldn't even exist.

CALLER: No, no, no. I mean, if there was, it there's going to be a story, it's that the negative impact on these children. And I'm not against the children. They're not at fault; they're innocents here, as far as I'm concerned. I don't care if they're Mexican or, you know, whatever. It's the illegal -- they keep saying -- they mean the people, the Mexican that are illegal, that are protesting again about conditions and their rights and whatever, it's, and how it's affected their children -- it's their fault. They're the ones, their actions --

BOYLES: Yeah, but --

CALLER: -- their illegal actions is what brought --

BOYLES: But --

CALLER: -- this down --

BOYLES: Sure.

CALLER: -- on the head of their children.

BOYLES: But --

CALLER: It's not the enforcement of the law, it's the breaking of the law.

BOYLES: Well, you know, mom was smoking in bed and the house caught on fire.

CALLER: Yeah.

BOYLES: But the fact that both of these papers, and, apparently -- I read the Greeley Tribune; they did the same thing. I have not seen the Fort Collins Coloradan, but I've gotten about beaucoup emails saying, “Yeah, they've said the same things.” But the fact that you would take something funded by La Raza and use it as a news story is --

CALLER: Yeah, I know, that's just, that is just beyond any --

BOYLES: Yeah.

CALLER: I mean, where do they -- where in journalism school do they teach that sort of thing?

BOYLES: Well, but it's advocacy journalism. I don't mind, if it was in a column, if it was one of those Cindy Rodriguez columns or Tina Griego columns, you'd accept it. You'd say, you know. Or, you know, if Littwin writes it, or Bill Johnson writes it. Hey, c'mon, day at the beach. Par for the course. But presenting it as a news story. I mean, you can expect the sob sisters to talk about these poor Augusto and Marina and the rest of these people. And, you know, you go, “OK, more of the same.” But when it appears, and it's concerted -- both papers having the pictures of the same people.