Fake News: True, False or a Little of Both
Introduction
The article titled Democrats Vote To Enhance Med Care for Illegals Now, Vote Down Vets Waiting 10 Years for the Same Service, was written in the Western Journal on September 28, 2019.
“The Democratic proposal would require the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to create a universally connected Electronic Health Records system which “can be accessed by all departmental components operating along the borders of the United States,” according to the bill.” (Western Journal) https://www.westernjournal.com/dems-vote-enhance-med-care-illegals-now-vote-vets-waiting-10-years-service/
Illegal immigrants obtaining a fully functioning Electronic Health Records (EHR) system and the Vets are still waiting for theirs.
Research Results
After reading the Western Journal article, I researched several different websites such as Snopes, Military Times, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement articles. I found that there was some partial truth to the article, along with some false leading information.
According to Snopes, this story was mostly FALSE.
Snopes says what is True- “In September 2019, U.S. House Democrats did vote for a bill that would create an electronic health record (EHR) system related to immigrants detained along the U.S.-Mexico border.” (Dan MacGuill)https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dems-immigrants-vets-health/
Snopes says what is False - “the bill would not provide immigrants specific health benefits or create an EHR system that does not already exist with U.S. military veterans since the Veterans Affairs Administration has had an EHR system for years. Democrats did not reject a Republican proposal to give veterans the same EHR being proposed for immigrants because such a system already exists and, that is not what the Republican proposal called for.” (Dan Macguill)https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dems-immigrants-vets-health/
The Western Journal wants to lead the reader to believe the immigrants will receive better physical medical care vice administrative medical care. Using a general title as “Dems Vote to Enhance Med Care for Illegals Now, Vote Down Vets Waiting 10 Years for Same Service,” they are leaving it to the reader’s discretion as to what type of care such as administrative or physical medical care. The title should have said Dem Vote to Enhance Administrative Med Care for Illegals Now.
Although the rest of the news story is accurate. The author wrote this to energize the republican party for more donations and votes for future elections.
As for vets waiting ten years for the same service, that is true. The bill is about EHR being accessed by all department components operating on the border of the U.S. As of now, the department of defense (DOD) and veteran affairs (VA) are unable to be shared between the two agencies.
Refute the Claim
The biggest takeaway from reading this article and reading the opposition fact-checkers Snopes is they do the same thing. They both manipulate words or purposefully leave words out to lead the reader to a conclusion that the author wants, such as from previously referencing what Snopes mentioned from what was false in the article written by Western Journal.
Snopes would have the reader believe that the article stated: “The Immigrants would get specific health benefits.” However, the Western Journal said, “Dems Vote To Enhance Med Care.”
The evidence concluded the statement to be false; by updating the system so all departmental components can share the already established EHR, the immigrant’s health care would benefit. Both the article and Snopes try and misrepresent what they are addressing by manipulating how the reader sees the word “benefit.”
Conclusion
After reading all the articles, I believe that all political News stories the author only writes from their political perspective, and there are no facts checkers- We as readers are responsible to do our due diligence and fact check for ourselves.
