News In Brief: New Immigration Bill Sidelines Fox News; Dobbs Says “Ruins My November Sweeps”

Fox News, AMW, Dobbs Not Pleased With Senate Immigration Measure

Say Lucrative Programming and Syndication Could Be Lost; Fox’s O’Reilly “War To Save Borders” On Hold

The late night, 12-6, bipartisan vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee, backing President Bush's favored approach to new immigration laws, was criticized this morning, by members of Congress, as well as some of the nations’ media giants.

With conservatives clamoring for sealed borders, and felony laws to be charged to illegal immigrants, the bill that came out of committee and that will go before the full floor of the Senate will embrace the views of the President, offering Guest Worker status and visas to millions of undocumented workers.

Senate Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) said that he was “disappointed”, having his own, harsher bill that was to be put forward. Frist vowed that he will “beef up the security” of the new bill, and “insist on video cameras to be deployed” in the security of the borders.

“If I can diagnose a comatose, but healthy woman by videotape, I feel confident we can secure our borders with videotape. It is vital that they be used in this way.”

Fox News, AMW Come Out Against Measure.

Roger Ailes, Fox News President said that “this will be a blow to some of our programming.”

“We were laying out some big plans, with all our top guns – Cavuto, Gibson, Hume, O’Reilly and Hannity – to really lay into the border issue and how the government is giving away America. We may end up having to tone it down some, find another angle to fire up our viewers.”

Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” said that “these knuckleheads don’t know what they’re doing”.

O’Reilly conceded that his next effort, “War To Save The Borders” may not be launched and that he’s taking back San Francisco from Al-Qaeda and giving it to the illegal immigrants.

“No, the terrorist can’t have the fruit city anymore,” scoffed O’Reilly. “We’ll give it to the illegals’ now, let them run all over it ... do whatever they want ... That’s want the President and Congress are telling them.”

John Walsh, host of the popular “America’s Most Wanted” also expressed dismay.

“We had some big plans to add to the AMW franchise,” said Walsh. “If they kept the felony charges attached to the bill, we were going to launch “America’s Most Wanted Illegal Aliens” and we had a syndication deal with Univision that would have given us millions and millions more viewers.”

Dobbs Says November Sweeps Blown

CNN’s Lou Dobbs said, with resignation, “there goes another shining example of our democracy.”

Dobbs, along with his railing against the outsourcing of jobs in his “Exporting America” series, has beat the drum on border security as well.

“It just astounds me, “said Dobbs, “the things our government does. This bill, if it survives as is, ruins my November Sweeps plans. They’re gone ... poof ... But, hey, who knows, maybe by the Fall, CNN will have outsourced my job – or, our borders will be overrun and they’ve taken control of the station”