A longtime North Carolina State play-by-play announcer has been suspended indefinitely after commenting on “illegal aliens” while announcing the score of a bowl game in El Paso, Texas, during the Wolfpack’s game against Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Dec. 30.
Gary Hahn made the comment as Maryland beat North Carolina State 16-12 in the game in Charlotte.
“In the Sun Bowl and amongst all the illegal aliens down in El Paso, it’s UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6. That’s with 11:15 to go in the second quarter,” Hahn said.
He was later disciplined by N.C. State broadcast rightsholder Learfield Communications, which is his employer.
In a statement to ESPN, Learfield Communications said it has “suspended Wolfpack Sports Network Play-by-Play announcer Gary Hahn from his agreement indefinitely following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast.”
Hahn has worked as the radio voice for North Carolina State since the 1990-91 season and was named NC Sportscaster of the Year in 2010 and 2020. Before joining the North Carolina state, Hahn worked as a sports reporter/anchor for NBC Radio Network in New York City and WLWI-TV in Indianapolis., Deadline reports.
The Epoch Times has contacted Gary Hahn for comment.
El Paso Declares State of Emergency
Hahn’s comments came shortly after El Paso officials declared a state of emergency as illegal aliens continue to cross into the city from Mexico seeking asylum.
Earlier on Dec. 21, Sun Bowl Association executive director Bernie Olivas announced that the Bowl had canceled its annual “fan fiesta”, scheduled for Dec. 29, because the city’s convention center is temporarily being used to house migrants currently waiting to hear the results of immigration applications.
According to El Paso officials, thousands of illegal aliens are waiting at the southern border to cross into the United States once the Title 42 immigration policy, which was initially scheduled to expire on Dec. 21, comes to an end.
Title 42 was invoked by former President Donald Trump in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy, which was implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allows border agents to expel illegal aliens immediately without asylum processing if they are deemed to pose a health threat.
The Supreme Court recently temporarily halted its expiration, voting 5–4 to allow it to remain in place, and the policy now remains in limbo pending legal challenges.
El Paso Residents Scared Amid Migrant Crisis
Earlier on Dec. 28, El Paso City Council member Claudia Rodriguez said in an interview that residents of El Paso have been struggling with the influx of illegal aliens and that more resources are desperately needed to manage the crisis.
“It’s frightening what’s happening in El Paso, not only for the community because we’re not used to this,” Rodriguez told Fox News. “Even though we are a border city, we’re not used to this type of environment where we just see people running across our freeways and running into our backyards. It’s very scary. People are sleeping on our streets. It’s completely out of the normal and, again, there is no plan moving forward.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have confirmed that a giant tent facility is being erected in El Paso to accommodate approximately 1,000 migrants while they are processed.
However, Rodriguez told Fox News that the tent is unsustainable, given the large numbers of immigrants attempting to cross the border, and called on the Biden administration to do more.
Fox News predicts that roughly 5.1 million illegal aliens will cross the southern border into the U.S. every year once Title 42 is lifted.
“I don’t see this really going anywhere other than more shelter, more shelter, more shelter, but really it’s not securing our border,” Rodriguez said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Katabella Roberts is a news writer for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States, world, and business news.
