SOTU FACT CHECK: PRESIDENT'S IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL IS NOT BIPARTISAN, HAS EXTREMIST, ANTI-IMMIGRANT PROVISIONS

January 31, 2018
Blog Post
President Trump's Claim:  "Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives…  These four pillars represent a down-the-middle compromise, and one that will create a safe, modern, and lawful immigration system." [State of the Union, 1/30/18]

PRESIDENT'S IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL NOT BIPARTISAN; IS FILLED WITH EXTREMIST, ANTI-IMMIGRANT PROVISIONS

  • Using DREAMers As Bargaining Chips:  This partisan framework tries to use DREAMers as bargaining chips for an extreme anti-immigrant agenda, which seeks to reduce even legal immigration by 50 percent.

  • Demonizes and Misrepresents Family-Based Immigration:  The phrase "chain migration" is a pejorative word, used by anti-immigrant hardliners to give the false impression that we have completely uncontrolled family-based immigration occurring every year in the U.S. Depending on the country of origin, a sponsor's immigration status and the applicant's relationship to their sponsor, the waiting period can last from months to decades. In January 2018, for example, most immigrants sponsored by their United States-citizen siblings could begin to apply for a green card if their priority date was before June 22, 2004, a waiting period of 13.5 years.  Those from other "oversubscribed" countries like India, Mexico and the Philippines would have needed to have an even earlier priority date.

  • Ending the Visa Diversity Program, Signed into Law by President George H.W. Bush:  President Trump completely mischaracterizes this program.  All applicants go through a very thorough vetting process conducted by the Department of State. Countries are not free to send to the United States whoever they want, including dangerous individuals.

IMMIGRANTS COMMIT CRIMES AT LOWER RATES THAN THE NATIVE BORN

California PolitiFact (1/23/18):  "Provocative Trump Ad Gives the Wrong Impression on Immigrants:" "In fact, undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than the native born. …Here's some of the evidence:  Findings in a March 2017 study by the libertarian Cato Institute show "Illegal immigrants are 44 percent less likely to be incarcerated than natives.  Legal immigrants are 69 percent less likely to be incarcerated than natives.  Legal and illegal immigrants are underrepresented in the incarcerated population while natives are overrepresented."

PRESIDENT'S CLAIMS THAT HIS IMMIGRATION PROPOSALS ARE NEEDED TO REDUCE TERRORISM HAVE BEEN DEBUNKED

The Washington Post Fact Checker Awarded Four Pinocchios to Trump's Claim That ‘Nearly 3 in 4' Convicted of Terrorism Are Foreign-Born [1/22/18] :  On January 16, President Trump tweeted about an Administration "report" about many terrorists being foreign-born.  President Trump misstated what the precise "findings" of the "report' were, but the report itself was also very misleading and confusing.  The "report" was designed to link immigrants to terrorism.  The "report" was enormously vague – giving  details on only eight of the 402 foreign-born individuals on the Justice Department's list of people with ‘terrorism-related convictions.'" The FactChecker found numerous flaws in the "report."  Highlighting how misleading the 75% statistic was, the FactChecker states, "Lawfare's analysis of a previous [similar] list that runs through 2015 found, by including domestic terrorism cases and excluding individuals convicted of international terrorism after being transported to the U.S., immigrants would account for 18% to 21% of total terrorism convictions."  The Trump tweet got Four Pinocchios.