On Wednesday, CBS This Morning devoted over three minutes of air time to video of a woman refusing to answer routine questions from a Border Patrol agent at a check point near the U.S.-Mexico border. Co-host Norah O’Donnell hyped: “Cell phone video of a confrontation at a border patrol check point is stirring up new controversy in the immigration debate. A California teacher posted this video of border patrol agents detaining her after she refused to say if she was a U.S. citizen.”

Correspondent Mireya Villarreal breathlessly followed: “Shane Parmely was headed home from vacation with her three children when she asked one of them to start recording. The videos have generated thousands of views on Facebook, but it’s also sparked a debate, a heated debate about immigration rights.”

In the staged confrontation, after the agent simply asked Parmely if she was a United States Citizen, the vacationing teacher ranted: “Are we crossing a border? I’ve never been asked if I’m a citizen before when I’m traveling down the road.” Villarreal sympathetically noted: “The middle school teacher says she did it after hearing her Latino friends talk about their experiences at check points.”

A clip ran of Parmely hysterically proclaiming: “It made me feel sick to get asked, knowing what my friends have been through. It just made me feel physically ill.” Her friend Gretel Rodriguez lamented: “They do more than ask that I’m a citizen. They will ask where my kids go to school, they’ll ask what grade they’re in. They’ll ask what type of job I have.”

Despite all the hyperventilating from Parmely in the cell phone video, the Border Patrol agent could be seen quoting Supreme Court rulings justifying his questions. Villarreal acknowledged: “The Supreme Court does allow agents to set up check points within 100 miles of the border and ask questions about citizenship without warrants.”

Regardless of the law being clear on the subject, a soundbite was included from immigration attorney Victor Nieblas claiming: “She had the right to remain silent, she had the right to question why was she being detained.” Villarreal wondered: “What other avenues can these border patrol agents take to verify citizenship?” Nieblas argued: “Well, they need a reasonable suspicion that the individual is either committing a crime or is here unlawfully, and that's difficult to ascertain by someone just saying, ‘I don’t want to answer a question.’”



Villarreal then admitted that while “some applauded Parmely’s activism,” “Others criticized her actions.” The reporter quoted one such critic reacting to the video on Parmely’s Facebook page: “I am sorry, but you are disrespectful. The Border Patrol is doing a job that must be done.” However, that one line of opposition was not allowed to stand on its own, as a comment from Parmely immediately followed: “There are a lot of criticisms that seem to basically be on this logical fallacy that if you question authority you’re disrespectful, and I disagree.”

Villarreal concluded:

Parmely was released after about 90 minutes of being detained without answering the question. Now, Border Patrol said in a statement that they want to make sure that they understand what the immigration status is. They are allowed to detain drivers for a reasonable amount of time in order to verify immigration status. They also said that they treat every individual that comes through those checkpoints with respect and dignity.

Following the sensationalized report about the incident, co-host Gayle King rightfully observed: “You know, when you look at the video, I know there’s two sides, but it seems like he was trying to do his job, and she was trying to make a point.” O’Donnell agreed: “What I didn’t hear from the teacher was what she would suggest he do otherwise. I mean, he’s at a border check point, he’s got to find out if you’re supposed to be in there lawfully or not. How do you do that? Ask the question.”

Of course that begs the question, why did CBS feel the need to wastes its viewers’ time with this ridiculous story in the first place?

The biased segment was brought to viewers by Olay, Colgate, and Toyota.

Here is a full transcript of the July 26 report: