This week, there has been over 64,000 signatures on a petition to send Piers Morgan back to the UK, for targeting the Second Amendment, in what has been deemed as a “hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution” (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/deport-british-citizen-piers-m…). The petition calls for Mr. Morgan to be deported immediately for his calls for new weapons restrictions following the Newton school shootings.
On the day of the shootings Morgan interviewed several people who were both for and against increased gun control on his hour-long CNN show. Arguing with second amendment advocates, Morgan took an aggressive stance in support of gun control.
“The argument I keep hearing is ‘well if everybody else was armed, it wouldn’t happen,'” Morgan said on the show. “It’s a load of total hogwash!”
The next day, the first petition in favour of Morgan’s deportation appeared on the site: “Petition the Obama Administration To send Piers Morgan back to Great Britain,” though it has received little more than 4,000 signatures.
The petition, that has gained ground, was created on 21 December by “Kurt N” in Austin, Texas and has quickly gained ground over the past 5 days now standing at 69,534 signatures from all over the United States. The petition should now receive a White House response as is guaranteed for any petition on the We The People platform that passes a 25,000 signature threshold.
However all of this being said, a popular petition calling for the secession of Texas (http://guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/13/white-house-petition-texas-i…), which was created just after the re-election of President Obama is still waiting for a reply from the White House. So maybe this website isn’t exactly the best measure of US public opinion.
But still, Piers Morgan’s ideas and speech would be protected by his rights under the First Amendment (hereby the basic right to say what I want!) so surely he wouldn’t be deported for his views as they pose no threat to national security.
Furthermore, an ABC interview with immigration attorney Mark Schifanelli said it would take more than a televised opinion to get Morgan booted out of the country. So we will not be seeing him back on Britain’s Got Talent anytime soon.
According to Schifanelli, the Department of Homeland Security would have the power to deport Piers, only if it was warranted, but there is still a chance that Mr. Morgan would win an appeals process.
“He’s got certain rights,” Schifanelli told ABC News Monday. “Even as a foreign national in the United States, he’s afforded various rights under national security law and due process.”
But there is reason to be concerned here, after all it seems like the American population are tolerant of their press, in the sense that they are happy as long as they do not try to interfere. This is remembering that the pro-gun lobby holds rather a lot of sway especially when it comes to political matters.
Piers has taken the campaign in his stride, joking on Twitter: “If I do get deported from America for wanting fewer gun murders, are there any other countries that will have me?” (https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/282522795206901760) He received takers from as far afield as Australia, Nigeria and the Philippines.
Another of Morgan’s Twitter comments proves the almost idiocy of this campaign is: “I don’t care about petition to deport me. I do care about poor NY firefighters murdered/injured with an assault weapon today.” (http://mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/webster-shooting-gunman-starts-house-1504693)
It can definitely be argued that this is a threat to America’s freedom of expression, regardless of whether it interferes with a man’s right to bear arms. So I’m guessing the lesson here is for anyone wanting to have a job with the American press, just be careful of two things: Firstly what you say, and secondly, who you say it to.
Various Coverage of the Petition
http://guardian.co.uk/media/2012/dec/24/piers-morgan-petition-cnn-anchorman-deported
http://independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/deport-piers-morgan-demands-us-petition-8430877.html
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/petition-to-deport-piers-morgan-gains-internet-fame/
http://mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/piers-morgan-petition-calling-for-tv-1504776
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