When It Comes to Immigration: Feelings, Not Facts, Make News



The Dallas Morning News recently ran a story that demonstrates just how abysmal American media’s reporting on immigration really is. The article tells the story of Francisco Galicia, who has been placed in removal proceedings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, Galicia and his mother claim that he is a U.S. citizen by birth. And the Morning News appears to accept this assertion at face value, implying that ICE is being unfair to Mr. Galicia.

There is a problem with that theory, however. Mr. Galicia has two birth certificates. One, allegedly issued in 2001, is ostensibly from Dallas, where Mr. Galicia claims to have been born. The second, allegedly issued in 2003, was supposedly issued by the Mexican government. Mr. Galicia’s mother says she obtained that document so Galicia could attend school in Mexico and asserts that her son’s Texas birth certificate is real and his Mexican birth certificate is fake.

However, the Morning News doesn’t appear to have bothered to track down any of the relevant facts that would shed some meaningful light on this case.

To begin with, birth certificate fraud is rampant in the United States. As far back as March 1988, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services observed that a birth certificate is, “a key to creating a false identity and thus has great value for undocumented aliens who seek fraudulent citizenship, ineligible applicants who seek jobs or benefits, credit defrauders, fugitives, terrorists, and drug smugglers.” Therefore, people seeking to misrepresent themselves as U.S. citizens have a strong motivation to buy or create a fake U.S. birth certificate.

More recently the Document Security Alliance, a trade organization for document security professionals, noted that while fake U.S. birth certificates abound, fraud is virtually impossible to detect. The organization stated, “…with over 6,400 issuers and 14,000 versions [of birth certificates]quality examination and authentication is beyond the realm of normal human capability.”

Nevertheless, the story on Mr. Galicia doesn’t even mention the possibility of immigration fraud. It unquestioningly portrays him as a hapless victim. Moreover, the story leaves out other salient details and ignores important inconsistencies.

Mexico doesn’t issue birth certificates of the type which Americans are familiar. Following the birth of a child, a Mexican citizens appears in person, under oath, at a government office and reports the birth of a child. The birth is then recorded in a central civil registry and the parent is issued a certificate called an Acta de Nacimiento.

That document will list the child’s place of birth, whether the child was born in Mexico or abroad. Therefore, if Mr. Galicia had been born in Dallas, his Mexican birth certificate would list “Dallas, Texas, Estados Unidos” as his place of birth. Yet the Dallas Morning News never mentions what birthplace is listed on Galicia’s Mexican birth document.

And there are other indicators of fraud that the Morning News makes no attempt to address. The story on Mr. Galicia refers to, “a [U.S.] visitor’s visa that his mother obtained for him when he was a minor to travel back to the U.S. from Mexico.” But presenting a U.S. citizen child as a foreigner in order to obtain a visa is a significant act of perjury. It also would make no sense. Why would a parent risk committing this type of fraud when she could just as easily obtain an American passport for her U.S. citizen child? The Morning News, never bothers to ask this question.

Is Francisco Galicia a native-born U.S. citizen? That’s difficult to say. The Dallas Morning News story about him is so bereft of essential information that it would be impossible for anyone to make a fair assessment of the case. Therefore, one wonders how the author arrived at such obviously anti-ICE conclusions. Perhaps this is simply another instance of elitist, corporate media outlets making folk heroes out of rogues.

About Author

avatar

Matthew J. O’Brien joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in 2016. Matt is responsible for managing FAIR’s research activities. He also writes content for FAIR’s website and publications. Over the past twenty years he has held a wide variety of positions focusing on immigration issues, both in government and in the private sector. Immediately prior to joining FAIR Matt served as the Chief of the National Security Division (NSD) within the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where he was responsible for formulating and implementing procedures to protect the legal immigration system from terrorists, foreign intelligence operatives, and other national security threats. He has also held positions as the Chief of the FDNS Policy and Program Development Unit, as the Chief of the FDNS EB-5 Division, as Assistant Chief Counsel with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, as a Senior Advisor to the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and as a District Adjudications Officer with the legacy Immigration & Naturalization Service. In addition, Matt has extensive experience as a private bar attorney. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from the Johns Hopkins University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law.

4 Comments

  1. avatar

    We know that Birth Certificate fraud in the United States is rampant. Barrack Obama’s birth certificate ( the one that he finally allowed the public to see) was totally fake. If you don’t believe, investigate a little further. Barrack Obama was one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on Americans.

  2. avatar

    So not only are the National MSM outlets constantly lying to the American People, the local news, even in the great State of Texas, are lying to it’s residents. This is pathetic, to think even your neighbors are lying through their teeth. To be fair though, their probably from COMMIFORNIA, and have brought their psychotic mindsets with them, to poison the minds of their next victims.

  3. avatar

    He was born [if true] at Parkland Hospital, the same hospital JFK died in 1963. A study done in 2006 estimated that 70% of births in that hospital were to illegal mothers. The excuse for that is that the hospital takes a lot of low income cases. That is sort of the point, isn’t it, besides the fact that what country can just give away citizenship to the children of those who committed an illegal act? It’s a guarantee that most all of those costs were paid by the taxpayers. Another case where the argument that immigration of whatever kind is beneficial to this country but then refuses to address the huge amount of welfare used by those same immigrants. But the argument is always “they pay taxes”. Yeah, but how much? It’s nowhere near to the costs they bring.

    Michael Bloomberg thinking of jumping into the Democratic race. Another billionaire who wants mass amnesties, mass visa workers, and mass immigration in general to “strengthen our economy”. Translation, he wants to keep living in his 20 million dollar apartments while paying peanuts to the average worker. And the sheep on the left buy into this nonsense. It’s astonishing that young people, blacks, and others support these policies when they are hurt the worst.

    There is no bargaining power for labor when big business can import endless workers on demand for the money they want to pay. Not to mention we need more workers like a hole in the head. How many more studies do we need to read, how many more times do we have to see it with our own eyes? Automation will reduce jobs by up to 30% in the next couple decades. Kiosks, self-checkout, it’s here and more coming.

  4. Pingback: When It Comes to Immigration: Feelings, Not Facts, Make News – The Importance of Business