Among other roles, FAIR is a vigilant watchdog. Truth-checking each immigration claim made by the Obama administration keeps us busy, sometimes amused and always astonished.
After years of separating fact from fiction, we can conclude two things. First is that as the deceptions have become more dazzling and audacious, they have become easier to debunk with almost embarrassing ease. Secondly, we can advise with a high level of confidence that whenever Obama, or one of his officials, makes a statement regarding immigration, it’s always prudent to assume that the exact opposite is more likely true.
Obama’s earliest deceit was revealed, not by us, but simply by the passage of time and the president himself. During his first term, Obama promised to act on behalf of “kids who were brought here through no fault of their own,” thus implying a limited amnesty for a small population. That claim was unabashedly exposed the moment Obama unilaterally ordered two massive amnesties covering not just “kids,” but most illegal aliens up to age 30 and all of their parents. Those combined actions represent a wholesale amnesty for 6-8 million illegal aliens, more than half of all in the U.S.
Many other lies persist but require a bit of clear thinking to refute:
Illegal Border Crossings are Down
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson claims that illegal border crossings have dropped because apprehensions are down. While this may appear logical, upon analysis we can confirm this statement is a Pinocchio.
Apprehensions — those who the Border Patrol catch sneaking into the country illegally — are a poor measurement because for every illegal alien caught, about 3 or 4 more get through unnoticed so there are still hundreds of thousands entering every year. Apparently Secretary Johnson “forgot” that the Government Accountability Office recently said the number of apprehensions bears little relationship to effectiveness because agency officials do not compare these numbers with the amount of cross-border illegal activity.
Even Johnson’s predecessor, Janet Napolitano, acknowledged that the number of apprehensions does not measure the number of people who illegally enter the U.S.
Finally and most importantly, apprehensions are also a poor measure because we know from insiders at the Border Patrol that they’re not tending the border like they used to because their bosses are instructing them not to do their jobs.
Illegal Immigration is Dropping
Johnson suggests that illegal immigration has “dropped considerably since it peaked in 2000.” This would also be known as a Pinocchio, in particular one with a nasal inflammation, but it’s easy to refute. In 2000 there were 12.2 million illegal aliens in the U.S. Now there are 11.9 million illegal aliens in the U.S., hardly a “considerable drop.” That is about the same number we’ve had for the last five years and it is 36% higher than it was 15 years ago.
We’re Conducting Smart Worksite Enforcement
This particular deception dates back to April 2009 when then DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that DHS would no longer conduct worksite enforcement in the form of surprise visits by ICE agents to determine if an employer was hiring illegal aliens. Instead, they said ICE would begin “more efficient and effective” paper audits of employer’s I-9s. Not surprisingly, the numbers have been dropping. Our partners at the Center for Immigration Studies report that in 2012 there were 240 employer arrests. This year only 65 are projected.
We also learn – now years later — that DHS provides employers advance notice of an audit thus guaranteeing that unscrupulous employers will have plenty of time to clean house.
Removing Criminal Aliens
This is a growing and dangerous lie.
Over the past few years, the Obama administration made a non-consensual agreement with the American public saying that it would not waste resources removing illegal aliens whose “only crime is crossing the border illegally.” Instead, the administration claimed it would, “focus on criminal aliens and national security threats.”
Neither the American public nor Congress agreed to the new selective enforcement — Obama never asked — nonetheless it became DHS’s priority. But now we learn 30,558 illegal aliens with criminal records were released onto the street last year including those with homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault and other serious offenses and convictions. Moreover, this year ICE has already released 10,246 criminal aliens.
So it was all a lie like a lot of what this administration says. Illegal aliens for the most part are not being removed and neither are many illegal aliens who have felony charges and convictions.
And that begs the question of the other category of illegal aliens…national security threats. The DHS Secretary’s job is, above all else, to keep Americans safe. Given Johnson’s chronic, fantastical and self-serving deceptions — characteristics which psychologists say are clinical indicators for a diagnosis of compulsive lying — combined with DHS’s current practice of releasing criminal aliens, it’s hard to believe he’s doing much to identify and remove aliens who might be terrorist risks.
Deportations are Up
While this has been the biggest lie and the easiest to disprove, it has ironically been Obama’s most effective and lingered the longest. The tide is changing however as the mainstream media — including even the New York Times and Los Angeles Times — has had to acknowledge the cold hard facts and stopped fueling the myth.
2012 410,000
2013 368,604
2014 306,000
2015 YTD 117,181
The administration periodically paints a rosy picture of how tough they are on immigration so that they can claim “mission accomplished; let’s enact amnesty and forget about deporting those already here.” As such, we’ll continue debunking the Obama administration’s endless minor omissions and major whoppers but in meantime we stand by our initial advice; assuming the opposite of whatever you hear coming from the Obama administration regarding immigration will enhance accuracy.
9 Comments
King O portrays himself as a leading a rough life early on. Doesn’t mention inheriting half a mil $ from granny. His best pals in his teens were self avowed communists (check out Frank D.), socialists and anti-colonialists, all America haters. His college pals and later were terrorists (check out Bill A.) and other folks who sought to destroy America. He campaigned that he would destroy the America we knew (“fundamentally transform America”). Still he got voted in. Sometimes I wonder if the voters in this country are so stupid that they deserve to be servants of the great King (I got a pen). Now he largely spends his time (when not golfing) trying to insure that enough people can be imported from tyrannical and socialist countries that have no real concept of liberty and freedom, that they will give the Democrat party such a huge majority that they will hold control over us forever. Of course it is against the law for the criminal invaders flooding across our borders to vote, but then it is against the law for them to come across the border. The laws don’t apply to them and they know it, especially when King O tells the immigration officers that they will be fired if they enforce the laws. As this article mentions, even when they break the laws here and get caught the authorities turn them loose to continue to prey on us.
I know there are many like me who love this country and wonder what we can do to get control again. We the People are going to have to get more involved, be more vocal, tell the politicians to do what is right, uphold the constitution as they promised. We have to support organizations like FAIR and the NRA. The NRA??????? Check it out, they are abused and lied about constantly by the major media but the number one priority of the NRA is to protect the constitution. They protect the second amendment. We need to protect all the constitution and all the amendments. God bless the U.S.A.
Here I am petitioning my city council to end their recently enacted “sanctuary city” ordinances and Obama et al is rolling out the welcome mat. I’m so sick of the subterfuge. My city council claims that we are to be a “welcoming” city. We are doing the “non-biased policing” (code for sanctuary city) for the sake of those poor souls who were trafficked here. So now we have a surge in human trafficking. Well, duh. We here in my city cannot get rid of the illegal aliens, not even the murderers. We have several of those languishing in our jails and we can’t even ask their immigration status. We can’t ask immigration status for welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, medical care (state sponsored insurance that the taxpayers pay for) etc. If you are a praying person, pray that my repeal of sanctuary city ordinances is successful in November. Maybe we can start a movement across the nation.
How can you tell when Obama is lying? His lips are moving.
Well so much For transparency – Hope and Faith he ran his campaign on .. I stopped listening when bush was in Office 2 years – I stopped with Obama when he was halfway though his campaign. Too bad so many followed him like sheep to the slaughter. The only way we get change in the country is when we vote INDEPENDENT . there is not much difference between the courrent two parties. Corrupt to the core .. As for Obama – he is just another example of Chicago Politics ….
When he lies he speaks his native language.
Obama is Evil simple as that. The devil and evil men are experts at lying and deceiving and use many tools (including the media) to help them to do just that. He MUST be impeached before he gets his 3rd and maybe even a 4th term in office…
His administration and allies are always the first to charge that attempts to check voter registration lists are aimed at “suppression” of votes. But look up the name Alice Palmer. She was the previous holder of the state senate seat that became his first political office. Elections in Illinois require nomination by petition. Apparently unknown to the candidates, their signature gatherers did not do a very good job and he challenged the petitions of not only Palmer but the two others and they were all removed from the ballot except him. But’s it’s do as I say, not do as I do.
Here’s what Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass had to say about that situation, including cases where voters were thrown off for printing their names instead of writing them in cursive:
“He may have gotten his start registering thousands of voters. But in that first race he made sure voters had just one choice.”
But none of that went along with the media line that the Messiah had arrived.
Obama tells It Like It Is
His viewpoint of reality that is.