CBS’s SWAT Gives Sympathetic Portrayal of Illegals ‘Fleeing Oppression and Violence’

CBS’s S.W.A.T. went to bat this week on behalf of  illegal aliens and those who hide them from immigration authorities

The S.W.A.T. is featured in the Friday episode “Safe House”, on December 10. team rescues an illegal immigrant, Jenni (Isa Garcia), who was kidnapped by a drug gang. Jenni had been pressured to be a drug mule in Honduras and fled to the United States with a large amount of the dealer’s cocaine. The young Honduran gang leader, Ignacio Cuevas (Victor Manso), is seeking out Jenni and the drugs with which she fled. (The explanation given by a friend for why Jenni fled with the drugs is “Jenni didn’t know what to do with this when she escaped. “It’s not her fault.

Jenni has been hiding in the safe house of a grandmotherly character named Mama Peña (Terri Hoyos). Mama Peña never checks what the girls may be carrying with them when they arrive. Mama Pena is not aware that she has large quantities of cocaine in her house.

A local Los Angeles gang leader named Marcos (Steve Louis Villegas) brings Mama Peña to S.W.A.T. Kenny Johnson’s member Luca) will help with the search for Jenni. Marcos has a relationship with Luca in his community and is able to trust him. He wants to help Mama Peña find Jenni because Mama Peña once took in Marcos and his family. If you are keeping score, Mama Peña has taken in 1) an illegal immigrant who became a gang member and 2) an illegal immigrant with cocaine whose entry into the U.S. caused a Honduran gang leader to sneak in as well and bring violence. Mama Peña is supposed to be a sympathetic character.

S.W.A.T. has one member. team member who is visibly unenthusiastic about Mama Peña’s safe house, Sargent Deacon “Deac” Kay (Jay Harrington). This is the way S.W.A.T. usually works is that Deac takes the more “conservative” position in the show and a left-wing character argues with him. Chris (Lisa Esco), is often that left-winger. Safe House was not an exception to this setup. 

You see, while Luca and the Spanish-speaking Chris had been at the safe house trying to get information to help find Jenni, Ignacio’s gang pulled up in front of the house and shot it up in search of the drugs. Deac, and an additional S.W.A.T. leader arrived afterwards to interrogate Mama Peña about the incident. Chris found Deac far too unsympathetic to Mama Peña. She confronts him about it back at S.W.A.T. headquarters.

Chris: Chris, what’s the problem? At the safe house, why’d you come at Mama Pina like that? 

Deac, I was asking her questions. 

Chris: She was being accused by you.

Tan: Chris, calm down. 

Chris: This is what you should do. 

Deac: Listen, I’m sorry you saw it that way, but I was doing my job. The one where we ask witnesses and potential suspects the hard questions.

Chris: Are there potential suspects? Do you think she is hiding something? 

Deac: These are your words and not mine. We’ll just let it be, shall we? 

Chris: No. It’s not what I wanted to hear. 

Deac, Say What? Chris, come on! These women are doing Mrs. Sosa more harm than good.

Chris: How’s that? 

Deac: If you and Luca weren’t there, what would happen? Huh? So what’s the next step? At best, she’s a vigilante. At worst, she’s a vigilante. 

Chris: Worst, she could be a criminal. Do you have any clue the sacrifice that lady makes on a daily basis just so young women fleeing oppression and violence get a chance? 

Deac: Those young women have no legal standing living under her roof, all right? Without it, they are just sitting ducks. They could be deported at the drop of a hat, sent back to the very danger they’re fleeing.

Chris: You’re right. They should go through the proper channels, like sweating it out in detention centers where they’ll probably endure the same abuses they fled! And maybe by the time they’re 40, be given permission to be in this country.

Deac: Hey, I’m not saying the process isn’t flawed, but it’s a process. You don’t get to just choose which law you feel like breaking.

Chris: Wow, it must be so nice throwing stones perched up in your tidy corner of the world. 

Hondo: Hey, that’s enough. Hondo: Right now, I don’t care about your politics. Our lives are in danger for a young girl. 

My name is Deac. Chris never considers that there are other closer nations where Central American immigrants could safely migrate or that the vast majority of illegal border crosses are actually economic migrants. In her mind, the only option is making a dangerous illegal trip to the U.S. and sweating it out in detention centers, as though no other options exist.

The protection of illegal immigrants against deportation allows drug and human trafficking. In fact, the episode’s entire plot is an unintentional argument for strong border enforcement. The script assumes it is easy for drug dealers and human traffickers from Central America to stream across the border and cause violence and chaos in the United States. A character like Mama Peña may believe her actions are compassionate, but they in fact enable the corruption of trafficking.

The S.W.A.T. team is about to rescue Jenni and capture Ignacio in an undercover operation, U.S Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrives on the scene. team is about to rescue Jenni and capture Ignacio in an undercover operation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrives on the scene. ICE’s unexpected arrival puts the entire sting in jeopardy and almost gets Jenni killed. ICE can never be the hero in a Hollywood script even when going after a violent drug dealer. Ignacio runs off with Jenni, but Chris is able to rescue her by physically taking Ignacio down. Although Chris is petite, she looks as if she would be carried away by the wind. However, she still has the strength and physical stamina to defeat a Honduran gang leader. Right.

In the end, Ignacio and his men are arrested and Jenni appears to be spared deportation. Deac look sympathetically at poor Jenni as she talks with Chris in S.W.A.T. headquarters. Later, Chris returns Jenni to Mama Peña’s home and gives Mama Peña a card with her cell phone number in case she ever needs help. Chris in no way discourages Mama Peña from her illegal and dangerous activity.

Americans have grown tired of feeling guilty for wanting their nation’s borders protected and its immigration laws enforced. For years, poll after poll has shown Americans want more enforcement of our immigration laws. This is not something Hollywood will change.

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