05 Jan Fact-checking the DHS border presentation
The administration has released similar data points in the past, though it’s unclear at times where the information has been pulled from. During a news conference Friday in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump, flanked by Nielsen, among others, cited some of these figures as reasons for a border wall, which he’s argued would stem the flow of migrants to the border.
“A dramatic spike in illegal drugs at the southern border makes clear the need for an effective physical barrier.”
The majority of hard narcotics seized by Customs and Border Protection come through ports of entry either in packages, cargo or with people who attempt to enter the US legally. The only drug that is smuggled in higher numbers between legal entry points is marijuana, according to information from Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DHS presentation says there was a 38% increase in methamphetamine at the southern border from 2017 to 2018.
A closer look at the numbers shows that in fiscal year 2018, Customs and Border Protection seized 67,292 pounds of methamphetamine at legal ports of entry, compared with 10,382 pounds by Border Patrol agents in between ports, based on available data.
Dangerous people
“DHS agencies are fighting an influx of dangerous people and need the resources to do so.”
“17,000 adults at the southern border with existing criminal records arrested by CBP and border agents (FY18)”
“3,755 known or suspected terrorists prevented from traveling to or entering the U.S. by DHS (FY17)”
This number is highly misleading and fits a pattern of statements by the administration that have sought to tie immigration on the US-Mexico border to Islamic terror. The figure, as the Department of Homeland Security writes, represents individuals blocked from “traveling to or entering the U.S.” — not necessarily along the Southwest border. It is not uncommon for an individual named on a federal watchlist to be denied access to a flight at a foreign airport or from obtaining a visa when they apply for entry at an embassy abroad.
“6,000 gang members, including MS-13, apprehended at the southern border and removed by ICE”
“Each year criminal organizations gain $2.5 billion in profit from migrant smuggling”
It’s unclear what they mean by this figure or where they’re getting the data. It is likely referring to global migrant smuggling, not just what is paid to criminal organizations helping to bring migrants across the US-Mexico line. Last year Nielsen testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that immigrants were paying Latin American criminal organizations $500 million a year to get into the US.
Special interest aliens
Speaking in the Rose Garden on Friday, Nielsen said Customs and Border Protection has stopped over 3,000 “special interest aliens trying to come into the country on the southern border.”
“Those are aliens who the intel community has identified are of concern. They either have travel patterns that are identified as terrorist travel patterns or they have known or suspected ties to terrorism,” Nielsen said. It is not clear if “special interest aliens” are merely individuals from a country that’s been designated itself as “special interest” or if it’s a categorization determined through separate protocols. CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.
Either way, this figure is separate from the 3,755 individuals DHS has cited as known or suspected terrorists, and requires some context. A 2016 DHS Office of Inspector General report defined special interest countries as those “that are of concern to the national security of the United States, based on several U.S. Government reports.”
Juliette Kayyem, a DHS assistant secretary in the Obama administration and a CNN national security analyst, said the countries make up a list longer than the State Department’s officially designated states, and include “countries that promote or have a tendency to promote terrorism.” The White House also said last year that Customs and Border Protection enforcement actions had been carried out against individuals from 22 “‘Special Interest Aliens’ countries.”
Vulnerable people
“Over the last five years, we have seen a 2,000% increase in asylum claims, yet 72% of migrants report making the journey for economic reasons and therefore would not typically qualify for asylum.”
Takes away vital resources
“The exponential increase in vulnerable populations arriving illegally takes vital resources away from detecting and apprehending criminals, drug traffickers, and vulnerable aliens”
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