Radio Announcer Suspended For Referencing ‘Illegal Alien’

A radio announcer for the North Carolina State football team was suspended after using the phrase “illegal aliens” while announcing a score update about the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl game in El Paso.

According to the El Paso Times, N.C. State broadcast rightsholder Learfield Communications handed Gary Hahn an indefinite suspension after the radio play-by-play announcer used the phrase during the Wolfpack’s game against Maryland in Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

“Down among all the illegal aliens in El Paso, it’s UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6,” Hahn said as he gave the score of the Sun Bowl game.

Wolfpack Sports Properties general manager Kyle Winchester revealed that Hahn has been suspended from his agreement indefinitely after making the comments.

Hahn, who has been the radio voice for N.C. State since the 1990-91 season, has yet to respond to requests for comments from The Associated Press. Hahn won N.C. Sportscaster of the Year in 2010 and 2020.

The City of El Paso is facing a migrant crisis following the recent surge in illegal crossers at the southern border. The crisis has left migrants sleeping on the streets as temperatures drop to freezing levels.

The crisis led to the cancellation of The Sun Bowl’s annual fan fest because the city’s convention center is currently being used to house migrants awaiting immigration decisions.

President Joe Biden’s administration’s plan to end Title 42, a Trump-era policy, has exasperated the crisis. The pending end of the policy and the freezing weather conditions resulted in El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser declaring a state of disaster.

“The reason why we’re doing it is because I said from the beginning that I would call it when I felt that either our asylum seekers or our community were not safe,” Leeser said. “And I really believe that today our asylum seekers are not safe, as we have hundreds and hundreds on the streets. And that’s not the way we want to treat people.”

Lesser said he expects the number of illegal border crossings to rise to 6,000 per day.