OnTheIssues Fact Checking: on Immigration
Donald Trump:
FactCheck: "Fire and Fury" ignored Trump's 2000 book
FactCheck on Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury": There is such a political storm over this book that OnTheIssues must point out Wolff's shallowness on the issues. A prime example is Wolff's analysis of Trump's core immigration stance. On page 62, Wolff
asserts that Trump expressed "bewildered resentment" of immigrants "in some of his earliest political outings, even before 2008."Wolff evidently is unaware that Trump wrote a policy book in 2000, The America We
Deserve, in his run for the Reform Party presidential nomination. Trump fully laid out his immigration stance: America first; make legal immigration hard; control borders against illegal immigrants.
Trump has no bewilderment; you might disagree
with Trump's stances, but they have remained unchanged for 18 years now. Wolff is particularly wrong in characterizing Trump's "earliest political outings" as around 2008--Trump was fully engaged in 2000. But people like Wolff weren't listening then!
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on "Fire And Fury, by Michael Wolff"
Jan 5, 2018
Hillary Clinton:
FactCheck: Yes, would increase Syrian refugees by 550%
Trump asserted that Hillary would increase Syrian refugee admissions "by 550%" -- is that accurate?Yes, the current number of resettled Syrian refugees in the U.S. is 10,000 and Hillary proposes an increase the number to 65,000, which is indeed a
550% increase.
President Obama set a limit of 10,000 Syrian refugees for 2016, which Hillary Clinton called "a good start" on a goal of 65,000, who would be admitted after a vetting process that takes 18-24 months.
A group of fourteen Senate Democrats called for the 65,000 figure in mid-2015. The total number of refugees is currently about 4.5 million, most of whom reside in temporary refugee camps. About 160,000 have been permanently re-settled worldwide,
including 40,000 in Germany, 40,000 in Sweden, 31,000 elsewhere in Europe, and 10,000 in the U.S. [Sources: Al Jazeera 1/28/16 and Amnesty International and Oxfam reports]
Source: OnTheIssues Fact-Checking on 2016 presidential hopefuls
Oct 9, 2016
Hillary Clinton:
FactCheck: Yes, voted for a partial wall on Mexican border
[Clinton and Trump went back-and-forth on border security]:- CLINTON: "I have been for border security for years; I voted for border security in the US Senate."
- TRUMP: "Hillary Clinton wanted the wall in 2006 or thereabouts."
- CLINTON:
I voted for border security, and there are some limited places where [a wall] was appropriate."
- Who's right?
They both can claim to be correct here, based on these two YES votes by Hillary as Senator:-
Vote #235 on June 28, 2007 on S.1639, the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill: "Establishes specified benchmarks which must be met [before comprehensive reform, including] operational control of the border with Mexico; Border Patrol increases; border
barriers, including vehicle barriers, fencing, radar, and aerial vehicles.
- Vote #262 on Sept. 29, 2006 on H.R.6061, the Secure Fence Act:[including] "physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful border entry."
Source: OnTheIssues Fact-checking on Third 2016 Presidential Debate
Oct 19, 2016
Jill Stein:
FactCheck: 2.5M deportations counts removals, not returns
Jill Stein asserted that Obama deported "a record 2.5 million immigrants, more than any past president." Is that true? And why do Republicans claim Obama's deportation numbers are falling? Here's the relevant DHS Yearbook data:
| Administration | Removals | Returns |
| Reagan 1st term | <0.1M | 3.5M |
| Bush Sr | <0.1M | 4.0M |
| Clinton 1st term | 0.2M | 5.2M |
Bush Jr 1st term |
0.8M | 4.5M | | Obama 1st | 1.6M | 1.6M |
|
|
Stein's claim only looks at "removals": that means criminal deportations and people caught at the border. Stein is correct that Obama will reach 2.5M this
year. The GOP is also "correct" because they look at the total including non-criminal "returns". Why cite one figure or another? Because Stein wants to demonstrate Obama's over-strictness, while the GOP wants to demonstrate his under-strictness!
Source: 2016 State of the Union: OnTheIssues FactCheck
Jan 13, 2016
Kirstjen Nielsen:
FactCheck: Falsely claims no policy of family separation
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted, "This misreporting by members, press and advocacy groups must stop, It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break
the law and illegally cross between ports of entry. We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period."The Huffington Post contrasted Nielsen's comments with the fact that "last week, DHS announced that nearly 2,000 kids had been
separated from their parents during a six-week period ending last month. Many of those children are being held in juvenile detention centers."
How can both of these statements be true? Simple: the press is ignoring the MEANING of Nielsen's tweet.
Nielsen says that families who present themselves for asylum at LEGAL border crossing will not be separated. She intends to confuse voters between THAT non-separation policy with the OTHER policy for separating families who cross the border illegally.
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2018 Trump Administration
Jun 18, 2018
Nikki Haley:
FactCheck: US does have history of religion-based exclusion
Gov. Haley criticized Donald Trump's immigration policy of excluding Muslims, saying, "we've never in the history of this country passed any laws or done anything based on...religion." Is that true? We checked and readily found numerous cases:-
Until 1828, Jews were disallowed from voting in Maryland.
- In 1838, all Mormons were expelled from Missouri by the Governor's order.
- The Immigration Act of 1924 restricted immigration from Southern & Eastern Europe (which are majority Catholic) in
favor of Northern & Western Europe (which are majority Protestant).
- In 1939, the S.S. St. Louis, carrying 908 Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany, was denied entrance to the US.
In summary, Haley is incorrect about the US history of religious
laws. And Haley's focus on religious exclusion implies acceptance of country-based exclusion (like disallowing Syrian refugees). A country-based policy echoes that 1924 policy--its intent was to exclude Catholics, but using a more subtle method.
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck: 2016 State of the Union GOP response
Jan 13, 2016
Ted Cruz:
FactCheck: Yes, Bill Clinton deported 12M illegal aliens
Ted Cruz, debating the possibility of deporting an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, asked, "Do you know how many aliens Bill Clinton deported? 12 million. Do you know how many illegal aliens, George W. Bush deported? 10 million." Is that true?
We checked, and found that both of Cruz's figures are accurate. Looking at the Department of Homeland Security's "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013 Enforcement Actions", the figures in Table 39 are:
| Deportations | Administration
|---|
| 8,300,000 | Reagan (1981-1988) |
| 4,100,000 | Bush Sr. (1989-1992) |
| 4,100,000 | Clinton (1993-2000) |
| 10,300,000 | Bush Jr. (2001-2008) |
| 3,200,000 | Obama first term (2009-2012; on track for 6 million total) |
Those figures include both "removals and returns." Cruz's point is that 11 million deportations have been accomplished before.
Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 2015 CNN/Salem Republican debate
Dec 15, 2015
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