Another day, another media meltdown over immigration – only this time, it appears they again fell for or willingly pushed a hoax.
On Sunday, the Los Angeles news stations KTLA-TV and KABC-TV both published alarming stories about a woman named Yuriana “Yuli” Calderon, claiming she had been kidnapped off the street by immigration agents.
If you believed the initial reports, Calderon was forcibly taken by masked “bounty hunters” in a parking lot, shoved into an unmarked vehicle, and driven hours away to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Two of California’s largest media outlets predictably painted a picture straight out of a dystopian novel: a mother ripped from her community, denied food, water, and access to legal counsel while being detained in an unnamed facility.
But by Monday morning, the narrative began to collapse.
Department of Homeland Security officials issued a scathing statement on X, calling the story a complete fabrication.
“KTLA fell for a HOAX,” the official DHS account wrote. “This woman was never arrested or ‘kidnapped’ by ICE. If the media would have bothered to ask — ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests.”
They added that the entire story — from the unmarked warehouse to the lack of food or water — was “clearly fabricated.”
Do you trust the media?
“Lazy reporting like this is why trust in the media is at an all-time low,” the post continued. “This type of fear-mongering demonizes our law enforcement, who are now facing a nearly 700% increase in assaults against them.”
KTLA fell for a HOAX. This woman was never arrested or “kidnapped” by ICE. If the media would have bothered to ask—ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests. This bizarre tale about being picked up by bounty hunters, taken to an unmarked warehouse without access to food,… pic.twitter.com/WoaUjTOQP4
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 1, 2025
That should have ended it, but it didn’t. The original reports continued to circulate, fueled online by anti-ICE activists and left-wing commentators, who rarely wait for facts before reacting.
NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley followed up with DHS, providing additional context. She confirmed via federal databases that Calderon had never been placed in ICE custody at all.
Bradley noted that ICE and Border Patrol weren’t even conducting operations that night and emphasized that if agents had arrested someone in L.A., they wouldn’t drive them two hours to San Ysidro.
More context: We ran this woman through our sources and she is not in federal custody according to the databases…
ICE and Border Patrol are also not conducting “night operations” and this is when this woman was allegedly “taken.”
They also aren’t driving people 2+ hours down… https://t.co/DzojHvm8fg
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) July 1, 2025
In other words, the entire story defied not only common sense, but basic logistics.
But that didn’t matter to outlets like KTLA or KABC, who pushed the narrative without confirmation from federal officials. (KTLA added an editor’s note explaining that it had added the DHS response Tuesday morning “following KTLA’s multiple attempts to reach the department on Monday prior to publication.”
The media’s obsession with portraying immigration enforcement as President Donald Trump’s personal Gestapo has reached cartoonish levels.
Instead of waiting for facts or even issuing a retraction, the pro-illegal immigration, pro-crime Southern California media ran with a baseless claim that fit neatly into its anti-Trump, anti-law enforcement narrative.
ICE agents have become political punching bags in recent years, and especially in recent months, while carrying out the White House’s immigration agenda. Honest cops who took the oath are being physically assaulted at levels rarely seen before.
That violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum– it’s enabled and emboldened by stories like this, where law enforcement is falsely accused and publicly smeared without evidence.
The legacy media’s failure here isn’t just embarrassing, it’s corrosive to public trust, national discourse, and the safety of those on the front lines attempting to restore the country’s sovereignty.
It also shows that the struggling media is still more interested in scoring points against Trump than reporting the truth.
This wasn’t an honest mistake. It was willful negligence. Reporters at two separate and competing networks had every opportunity to check the facts before rushing serious allegations to publication.
They chose not to.
Because the narrative — ICE bad, Orange Man cruel — was too good to pass up. Facts be damned.
The legacy media, which once worked as a gatekeeper between information and audiences, so desperately wants to be taken seriously. It demands deference despite its lack of awareness and honesty.
Episodes like this are why millions of Americans no longer trust them, and why even their weather reports are deserving of scrutiny.
The California media’s lies are why alternative media outlets are thriving, and why phrases like “fake news” roll off the tongue with such ease.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
