A “60 Minutes” segment about Trump’s immigration policy is mistakenly broadcast online

A news segment about the Trump administration’s immigration policy that was suddenly pulled from “60 Minutes” was mistakenly broadcast on a TV app after a last-minute decision not to air it sparked a public debate about press independence.

The segment included interviews with migrants who were sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador called the Center for Terrorism Confinement, or CECOT, under President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

The story was pulled from Global Television Network, one of Canada’s largest, but is still working on the network’s app. The global television network quickly corrected the error, but versions of it continued to circulate across the Internet and appear before being deleted.

“Paramount’s content protection team is in the process of routinely removing unauthorized and unauthorized segment orders,” a CBS spokesperson said Tuesday via email.

A Global Television Network representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the story, two men who were deported reported being subjected to torture, beatings, and ill-treatment. One Venezuelan said he was punished with sexual assault and solitary confinement.

Another was a university student who said that the guards beat him and broke his tooth upon his arrival.
“When you get there, you already know you’re in hell. You don’t need anyone to tell you,” he said.

This segment included several experts who questioned the legal basis for hastily deporting immigrants amid pending judicial decisions. The program’s reporters also confirmed Human Rights Watch’s findings that only eight of the deported men had been sentenced for violent or potentially violent crimes, using available ICE data.

The decision to pull a story critical of the Trump administration was met with widespread accusations that CBS leadership was shielding the president from unfavorable coverage.

The journalist who reported the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, said in an email sent to fellow 60 Minutes reporters that the story was factually correct and had been cleared by CBS lawyers and its standards department.

CBS News President Barry Weiss said Monday that the story did not “advance the ball” and noted that the Trump administration had declined to comment on the story. Weiss said she wanted to make a greater effort to get her point across and said she looked forward to airing Alphonsi’s piece “when it’s ready.”

The dispute has put one of journalism’s most respected brands — and a frequent target of Trump — back in the spotlight and amplified questions about whether Weiss’ hiring was a signal that CBS News is heading in a more Trump-friendly direction.