The Quotes Below—More Misinformation from the Media
The following text came from an interview that CNN’s Dana Bash had with Arizona gubernatorial candidate Keri Bash. Bash tried to downplay the significance of illegal aliens with criminal records crossing into our country.
Bash: “Less than one percent of migrants encountered at the border have a criminal record.”
Lake: “I’m going to have to disagree with you on that figure you just put out. We don’t know what their background is. There’s a reason they’re trying to get in unnoticed: it’s because they have a criminal background.”
“We know that [DHS has] tracked down terrorists. They have tracked down people wanted for murder. We’ve got people with rape records, you name it, we’ve got hardened criminals.”
Bash: “Let me tell you that this stat that I just cited comes from the Department of Homeland Security, less than one percent of migrants.” Bash-Lake interview, CNNSOTU 10/16 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quotes: Bash ignores the fact that one hundred percent of illegal border crossers are criminals who have broken our immigration laws. And to maintain their residence in the U.S., they have to keep breaking laws—violations which harm Americans. Examples include taking American jobs ad stealing ID from citizens.
The DHS statistic Bash cites—less than one percent of migrants have criminal records—is more or less accurate, but it is misleading. Actually, the figure is slightly more than one percent, a total of 25,000 out of 2.3 million apprehensions during the past fiscal year. Twenty-five thousand criminals could have a significant impact across our country.
But the problem doesn’t stop there. The reality is that DHS only records the criminal histories it can confirm. Many of the countries sending us migrants do not have adequate criminal record keeping. Also, many do a poor job of catching criminals in the first place. In Mexico and Guatemala, for example, around 95 percent of crimes are never solved. Consequently, Lake is right to observe that “We don’t know what their background is. There’s a reason they’re trying to get in unnoticed; it’s because they have a criminal background.”
“Mainstream” journalists like Bash generally downplay the negative consequences of illegal immigration. One reason is that due to their positions and salaries, they can generally escape the “richness of diversity” that they want to impose on everyone else.