Another swing and a miss by the Immigration Outrage Cadre.

The newest victim is one Estefany Rodriguez-Florez, a journalist which makes it doubleplusungood in the eyes of … well same old TDS folks. As you can imagine, the initial story sound about the same as the ones I covered before:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Nashville reporter, who conducted extensive reporting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity throughout the city, has been detained by agents.

Estefany Rodriguez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 Nashville, was taken into custody outside of a gym on Murfreesboro Pike on Wednesday morning.

She was with her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, when she was pulled over. Rodriguez’s attorney says she came to the U.S. legally, sponsored by her husband and has a pending green card application.

She also has a pending asylum application after seeking refuge from Colombia. Rodriguez’s attorney said her life was threatened in Colombia due to Rodriguez’s reporting on the armed militia.

Nashville reporter detained by ICE agents outside of gym

In other news outlets, we are told that one of he “beats” was to cover the immigration raids and it is hinted that her detainment is some sort of payback for her negative coverage.

ICE commented a day or two later:

ICE arrested Estefany Rodriguez-Florez, an illegal alien from Colombia, March 4 during a targeted enforcement operation. Rodriguez-Florez entered the United States with a tourist visa March 10, 2021, which was valid until March 23, 2021. She failed to depart the country and is in violation of the conditions of her visa and currently has no lawful immigration status. She will remain in ICE custody pending her immigration proceedings.

Claims that ICE did not have a warrant are false. ICE officers had an administrative warrant at the time of the arrest and the officers issuing administrative warrants have found probable cause to issue the warrant. For decades, the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized the propriety of administrative warrants in cases of immigration enforcement.

All individuals who violate U.S. immigration law are subject to arrest and detention, regardless of their criminal histories.

ICE Spokesperson

And once again, I have to go back to the quote from the movie Absence of Malice about being accurate, but not the truth.

“Rodriguez’s attorney says she came to the U.S. legally,” Yes, accurate. A tourist visa does indeed allow you to come to the U.S. legally, but it comes with restrictions like not allowed to work and a defined amount of time to stay in. The first time I ever came to the States as a tourist, my visa lasted one day more than the amount of time we were planning on stay and the same thing with my mom. And again the paperwork you were given and admonishments by authorities were not to overstay or to notify if an emergency had happened and an extension was required. Overstaying without cause would not only kick you out of the country most expeditiously, but you would also be banned from coming back for up to a decade if memory serves right. And the above brings us to:

Rodriguez-Florez entered the United States with a tourist visa March 10, 2021, which was valid until March 23, 2021.

Notice that the news item does not say she came in as a tourist and upon arrival at port-of-entry, she requested refugee status as the law requires. Nor it mentions getting married to an American citizen in those 13 days or even when that marriage occurred.

and has a pending green card application.

Again, no date when the application was introduced nor the status of it. Applying for a Green card does not give you a free pass.

She also has a pending asylum application after seeking refuge from Colombia.

Again, application does not mean squat and it makes me suspicious that no dates for that application is given, nor explains how come she did not apply for refugee status while in Colombia. It is not unheard about leaving in a hurry for safety’s sake and then apply for refugee status, but it is easier for the local Embassy or Consulate to interview you and investigate the claims (they don’t do a very deep job anyway) and if true, the visa and appropriate paperwork gets issued for her to travel.

Was she in danger of being killed by Colombian Militias? Maybe, those boys are nastier than your average cartel and the only saving grace is that they are smaller, but then again so is a honey badger. But then you must wonder why she did not apply for refugee status once she got here and tried to get her papers the right and legal way. She is not some uneducated field worker but allegedly a trained and educated journalist with the resources to find out what to do. My take? She simply got here and adopted the Latino attitude of not giving a shit about Gringo laws because Gringos are stupid (Trust me, it is a thing) and they won’t come after me because (insert self-deluded reason here) so I am safe.

Oops!

---

PS: She was working as journalist for Univision, how come they did not check about her status before employment? And if she did pass, how was that possible?