Q: I saw on the TV news that of the 52,000 illegal immigrants who recently have come into the country, most are males ages 14 to 17. I also saw that most of them were in the gang MS-13. Is this true?
—Sonia G. Denning, Lawrenceville
A: Townhall.com, a conservative website, recently referenced a U.S. Border Patrol report that stated 16 members of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) — 13 El Salvadoran males, two Guatemalan males and one Honduran male – are being held at the Nogales Placement Center in Arizona. Fox News picked up that report, which also stated MS-13 members "left graffiti on the walls" of the processing center. More than 52,000 unaccompanied children, most from Central America, have been detained by the border patrol since October, more than double the total from 2013.
Q: Does the FCC limit the amount of commercial time a station can have in a 60-minute period?
—Larry Walker, Rome
A: There are no rules limiting the amount of commercial time for TV stations and networks, except in the case of children's programming.
“Cable operators can transmit no more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during children’s programming on weekends, and no more than 12 minutes of commercial matter per hour on weekdays,” the Federal Communications Commission states on its website. “These limits were imposed pursuant to the Children’s Television Act of 1990, which restricted the amount of commercial matter that both television broadcasters and cable operators can air on programs originally produced and broadcast primarily for children 12 years old and younger.”
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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