Immigration and politics

Immigration is a hot topic this year.  Let me start by stating my position.  I am 100% for legal immigration.  Emma Lazarus said it best,  

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" 

I firmly believe we should welcome with open arms anyone who comes to this country....as long as they meet some basic requirements.

1. Come here legally. 

2. Have some sort of skill that will allow you to provide for yourself/family.

3. Know enough English to be able to adequately function in society.

I want to really take a look at the things the "experts" say about immigration.  I have no doubt some are true, some are flat-out lies and a lot are half-truths.  A lot of my reading is from politifact.com.  I feel they tend to do a fairly decent, balanced job of getting past the political propaganda and focusing on the facts. 

They did have this on their site though.  

"Given the debate recently, it might surprise you to know that illegal immigration from Mexico is actually down.

A report from the Pew Hispanic Center, a respected nonpartisan research group, found that migration from Mexico has come to a virtual standstill, and the number of illegal immigrants in the United States may even be in decline.  

I'm sorry, I have a hard time believing any group, nonpartisan or not, can accurately count or estimate the number of people illegally in or coming in to the country.  Statements such as these come across as very partisan and statistically unprovable to me.

Now, on to some other statements.  Let's look at some statements that have been making their way around Facebook recently.  You'd be amazed at how many people seem to get their "facts" and "news" from something someone shared on Facebook.

1. "Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties in U.S. are illegals."

To put it nicely.....horsepucky.  HUD applicants are required to show documentation that they are citizens or legal immigrants.  According to HUD about 96% are citizens and 4% are legal immigrants.  Keep in mind however than an illegal alien can stay in HUD housing as long as the HUD applicant is a citizen or legal immigrant.  So that could be what is being referred to though there is certainly no documentation to support the 60% number.

2.  "Less than 2 percent of illegals are picking crops, but 41 percent are on welfare." 

Let's look at these two numbers separately.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates about 3% of illegals work in farming and related fields.  The Center for Immigration Studies estimates at peak harvest time it's possible that up to 5% are working on farms.  I figure these are probably reliable figures since one group is supposedly non-partisan and the other group advocates for stricter immigration laws adding up to a middle-ground blend.  So, based on the information, less than 2% of illegals are picking crops is probably pretty accurate.

Now, about the 41% on welfare.  Again, according to The Center for Immigration Studies which provides the most detailed statistics, about 40% of illegal-headed households receive government assistance.  The number could be as high as 71% for households with children.  This assistance consists almost entirely of food stamps (that are going to children who are citizens) and health care.  Oddly enough Politifact rates this statement as "Mostly False" apparently on the basis that the 41% is a misleading number.  They seem to think food stamps and health care don't really qualify as welfare.  I have to disagree with them on this one.  Seems to me the facts fully support this statement.  

3. "More than 43 percent of all food stamps are given to illegals."

This is an easy one.  It's illegal for adult illegal aliens to receive food stamps.  Their children can but the math simply doesn't add up.  In 2008 there were 30.8 million people on food stamps.  43% of that is 13.2 million.  Pew puts the number of children of illegals to be at 3.4 million....far short of 43%.  In short, this "fact" is hogwash. 

Enough FB news.  How about what the politicians have said?

4. "The (border) fence is now basically complete." 

Barack Obama on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 in a speech in El Paso

Well, I suppose if you consider single layer pedestrian fence and vehicle barriers to qualify as the double-layer fence the law specified then I guess his statement is true.  But if we don't talk like politicians then really not so much.  I'm deeming this statement to be false.

5. "Phoenix, Arizona, is the No. 2 kidnapping capital of the world."

John McCain on Sunday, June 27th, 2010 in comments on 'Meet the Press'

Short, simple and to the point, there are simply no statistics to back this statement up.  In the absence of that, it's a lie.

Some additional interesting statistics from Politifact:

Among the comments Obama makes 46% are deemed to be fairly true, 25% are half-truths and 28% are lies.

With Romney 31% can be deemed true, 28% are half-truths and 40% are lies.

Of course, I consider half-truths to basically be lies.  So what these numbers tell me with either one is if they're speaking they're probably lying.  Big surprise, huh?