Fox Nation vs. Reality: ObamaCare Is NOT Recruiting Undocumented Immigrants

Fox News has labored vigorously to establish its reputation as America’s whites-only cable news channel. Simultaneously they have distinguished themselves as the nation’s foremost purveyor dishonest and politically biased “reporting.” But every now and then they manage to score extra points by melding these two achievements into a single story. That goal was realized today by Fox’s community website, Fox Nation, with help from their disreputable pals at Breitbart News.

Fox Nation

Read Fox Nation vs. Reality for more documented lies from Fox World.

The headline declaring that “ObamaCare [is] Recruiting Illegal Immigrants” is absolutely, provably false. As is the content of the article that says in the opening paragraph that “Covered California–the flagship of state Obamacare exchanges–is recruiting illegal (“undocumented”) immigrants to sign up for the program, regardless of their eligibility.”

There is no truth whatsoever to that claim. But adhering to factual reporting has never been the mission of Fox News. It’s especially humorous that Joel Pollak, the BreitBrat author of the article, attempts to align his bogus assertions to Republican congressman Joe Wilson who, you may recall, shouted out “You lie,” during President Obama’s 2009 State of the Union speech when the President stated that the Affordable Care Act would not cover undocumented immigrants. Pollak believes that Wilson is due an apology based on his deeply misconstrued interpretation of a page on the Covered California website.

The shoddy news sleuthing by BreitBrat Pollak turned up a page that informed readers that they did not need to worry if they were “undocumented and want your family to enroll in health insurance. That was the spark that set fire to Pollak’s active imagination. Without wasting any effort on reading further or trying to understand the context, Pollak concluded that this was an attempt to enroll undocumented immigrants in ObamaCare, which the law explicitly prohibits. This is what the very first paragraph on the page actually said:

“According to the laws and implementing regulations, the information provided by individuals for coverage can not be used for purposes other than ensuring the efficient functioning of the insurance market (Covered California) or administration of the program, or to verify certain eligibility determinations including verification of the immigration status of these people.”

If Pollak had the comprehension skills to grasp this, he would have noticed two things: 1) The page is assuring applicants that the information they provide will not be shared with immigration agencies. And 2) That verification of immigration status will be a determinant condition of their eligibility.

The importance of the first item is to reassure people that an application will not result in an investigation or potential deportation. Many Latino families have mixed immigration statuses and they are sensitive to the possibility that their families could be separated. Consequently, they refrain from enrolling in benefits programs like ObamaCare. That means that many people who are actually citizens (i.e. children who were born here, or naturalized adults) would be deprived of services to which they are entitled because of their concern for other family members who may not be documented. This assurance allows them to apply without having to fear unrelated consequences.

The second item should be an assurance to bigots like Pollak that no undocumented immigrants would receive health care benefits under ObamaCare. It is an explicit declaration that citizenship is required for eligibility. And it is what makes Pollak’s assertion that illegal immigrants are being recruited regardless of their eligibility such a blatant lie.

It’s interesting to note that the Fox News Latino website does not have a story on this matter. Fox News Latino often takes positions that sharply contrast with those of the Fox News mothership. It is their way of trying to lure in the fastest growing demographic in the country without alienating them the way Fox News does. Although, there is a story that addresses the administration’s efforts to reach out to Latinos. And in that story they correctly point out the dilemma of mixed immigration status families who worry about separation, saying that “One big issue is that the law requires that those seeking coverage provide the immigration status of members of their household to determine eligibility.” That is what the page on Covered California is there for – to alleviate that concern.

It is remarkably dishonest and unethical to portray the information provided on Covered California as attempting to recruit undocumented immigrants to enroll in ObamaCare. Yet that is precisely what Breitbart and the Fox Nationalists did. And they did this despite the fact that the correct information was plainly in front of them on the same page. Therefore, it can only be assumed that they knew the truth and deliberately chose to ignore and/or distort it. But that’s the one thing that is not surprising about this. That is, in fact, standard operating procedure at Fox News.

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7 thoughts on “Fox Nation vs. Reality: ObamaCare Is NOT Recruiting Undocumented Immigrants

  1. You’re clearly right, but the part of that webpage that is questionable is not the part that you quoted. It’s the header element that says, “Fear not if you’re undocumented”.

    Breitbart and others are clearly latching onto that header and jumping to whatever conclusions they know they can sell to their audience.

    • Actually, in the fourth paragraph above, I did quote the same part that you noted. But more importantly, you’re right that Breitbart et al are exploiting their distortion of what the page says.

    • To begin an information article with racist undertones,( America’s only white news channel), really gives me the peace of mind that the writer, only know as Mark, is reporting the truth. Too all you Progressive sheeple just read the Bill!!!! Take your head out of your lazy ass for one minute and read one lousy paragraph and put it in context with coverage CA. Inviting “undocumented” to not fear signing up for healthcare.While Section 246 (page 143) of the bill expressly prohibits illegal aliens from receiving government-run healthcare, the bill does not include a specific requirement that a person prove his or her citizenship in order to obtain affordability credits, which means that illegal aliens could obtain coverage. Section 152 states that “all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services”. This provision has the potential to include illegal immigrants because it may interpret “personal characteristics” to include legal status (Pages 50-51, 143). Use some common sense for once in your life or follow these tyrants right over the cliff.

      • I only call Fox America’s only white news channel, because it’s true.

        And your interpretation of the ACA is wildly out touch with reality. Undocumented immigrants are explicitly prohibited from buying insurance through ObamaCare, even if they pay full price:

        “As with Medicaid, undocumented adults and children will not be eligible for subsidies in the exchanges; in addition, they will be barred from purchasing unsubsidized coverage through the exchanges.”

        What’s more, you’re totally wrong about verification of citizenship. It is one of the first things that is checked through the data hub services when submitting an application, and eligibility will be denied without compliance.

        You are falling for the lies of conspiracy theorists and partisans. You should check where your own head is in relation to your ass, lazy or otherwise.

  2. Also, you have to consider what this really means. Children who are born here with illegal immigrants as parents are not themselves illegal immigrants. That would be a horrible situation, where they have no country. See children of Turkish immigrants in Germany for how this can turn out.

    So this page is basically trying to assure illegal immigrants that they can look into health coverage for their children without fear of being deported. It’s not a lie as people on the right are saying, but you can understand how they might think it is. They do not like the thought that children of illegal immigrants are not also illegal. If you point out that “no, it wasn’t a lie because they’re targeting children of illegal immigrants, not illegal immigrants themselves” then people on the right are just likely to say, “same thing.”

    • And there’s where their xenophobic truthiness justifies hating children. Cause they aren’t human children, no. They’re anchor babies that I have to support through socialism. They aren’t born here and therefore just as American as me, they’re foreigners that are destroying the American fabric and deserve to be seen as subhuman and unworthy of the freedom that I think everyone in the world should have. How do I reconcile that? Are they people coming here from somewhere less free, looking for a better life, hoping to become what I think everyone in the world wants to be, an American? Nope, I don’t think like that, fear and hatred are ingrained in me to keep me where someone else wants me, to keep me where it’s us versus them and the stakes have never been higher. Truth is what I feel, not what is real. Truthiness is a bitch.

  3. There was a time when I would tune into Fox to be sure I had all the facts seen from the conservative angle. But lately, when I tune in there is so much misinformation and flagrant propagandizing that it seems like a waste of time. I should think they would want to preserve the illusion that they are true members of the Fourth Estate with all the responsibility that implies.

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