A deal regarding DACA by February 8? About as likely as evangelicals repenting of their moral blindness and support of Donald Trump.
It’s really anybody’s guess as to how it will all turn out, but I’m betting Chuck Schumer will do no better this time around than he did with the government shutdown.
That said, reliable information can help debunk all the immigration false claims Trump Republicans (including evangelicals) persist in repeating.
False Claim #1: A large percentage of immigrants are criminals.
“Roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males 18-39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of people born here, something that has been true for years.
Unfortunately, Fix News is as bad as Trump in using propaganda rather than facts about immigrant crime. In a recent report Fix News stated that a study it did “revealed a wildly disproportionate number of murderers, rapists and drug dealers are crossing into the U.S. amid the wave of hard-working families seeking a better life. The explosive figures show illegal immigrants are three times as likely to be convicted of murder as members of the general population and account for far more crimes than their 3.5-percent share of the U.S. population would suggest.”
They also accused local, state, and federal officials of “keeping these figures under wraps.”
But here’s the deal: It was all a lie. The report was debunked for conclusions based on manipulated data that gave a distorted and inaccurate account of crime rates, just as the recent report did that Trump officials cited when they testified before Congress last week.
False Claim #2: Most immigrants are poor and uneducated, especially from countries Trump called “s$$tholes.”
Of adults ages 25 or older born in Africa and living here, 41.7 have a bachelor’s degree or more, contrasted with 28.1 percent for native born Americans.
Two-thirds of all immigrants have a high school diploma, and 88% of African-born immigrants do.
False Claim #3: Our government spends billions of dollars on welfare for undocumented immigrants.
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to receive any “welfare” benefits and even legal immigrants are severely restricted in the benefits they can receive.
What is more, in 2016 immigrants made up 17% of the workforce, with an unemployment rate of 4.3%. Not quite half of those workers were Hispanic, and the majority of them were in the service industry doing jobs native born Americans won’t do.
False Claim #4: Building Trump’s wall on our Southern border will help stop illegal immigration.
The border patrol says a fence like the one built in 2006 makes more sense, but even that is not likely to make much of an impact. The current fence runs 650 miles and cost $7 billion to construct. The border is 2000 miles long. A wall will cost upwards of $65 billion and certainly won’t be paid for by the Mexican government.
False Claim #5: Chain Migration creates crime.
“Chain Migration” is another name for allowing family members from other countries to join their family that is already here. It has been a core part of US immigration policy for decades and there is no evidence of it creating a crime problem. Quite the opposite. It helps stabilize immigrant families. Also, the same vetting process is used for those wanting to join their families as everyone else goes through.
False Claim #6: The current immigration program has no serious vetting.
This is pure propaganda. It takes at least two years for most people to be admitted, with many having to wait three or more years. The truth is, by any standard, it is not easy for someone to immigrate to the United States.
That Trump Republicans and Fix News hosts deliberately repeat these false claims for political gain is unconscionable.
We can’t stop them, but we can know the facts to dispute what they say. I hope this helps.
linnposts.com 