The GOP’s New 5,000 A Day Lie
Are 5,000 undocumented immigrants getting into the U.S. every day?
In a new low, republicans are finding new ways to cope with the fact that their strategies for a grab at power is becoming less popular with younger Americans.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Gov. Greg Abbot (R-TX) sent planes and bus loads of undocumented immigrants across the country. The former flew dozens of undocumented immigrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence on Thursday. Both Harris and former President Barack Obama have residences in Martha’s Vineyard, a popular affluent area and tourist destination in Massachusetts.
The latter sent bus loads of undocumented immigrants to Union Station in Illinois.
The intentions of DeSantis and Abbott were clear: They wanted to send a message to President Joe Biden who the GOP solely blames for the influx of undocumented immigrants entering the United States. They also want to intimidate liberals in the hopes that the immigrants will carry out crimes in areas they frequent.
It’s an unthinkable move which Abbott and DeSantis have not lost any sleep over.
DeSantis even went as far as to say the flights to Martha’s Vineyard were an effort to, “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.” The Florida Legislature absorbed $12 million to transport “unauthorized aliens” out of state.
Thankfully, the move has appeared to have somewhat backfired. Though completely unprepared for the influx of mostly Venezuelan immigrants — volunteers came to their aid. High school students helped with translating; immigration lawyers will provide legal services; and other people are helping distribute food, water, and clothes.
In Illinois, Govener J.B. Pritzker condemned the move saying it was, “playing games with people’s lives.” Pritzker and the state of Illinois were also not made aware of the undocumented immigrants being sent which put a strain on law enforcement and resources.
5,000 a day
Since being elected to office in 2020, the GOP have accused Joe Biden of having an “open border policy”.
This was due to Joe Biden’s reversal of Trump-era immigration policies and giving an estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants already living in the United States a 8-year path towards citizenships.
Republicans have also been floating around the number 5,000 — accusing Biden of letting unauthorized immigrants cross the border every single day.
But the actual numbers and methods point to a more complex ways immigrants enter the country and why they are entering in the first place. The media has largely shaped the way people think immigrants gain access into the country. They think of smugglers, tunnels, exploiting lapses in border patrol, evading U.S. Immigration and Customs, disguising themselves as asylum seekers, and paying off law enforcement. However, those aren’t the most prevalent methods as they can be expensive and dangerous.
The actual numbers
5,000 people crossing the border daily would be 1,825,000 entering the United States illegally every year. One can also only assume republicans are implying that these undocumented immigrants enter by evading detection.
According to the New York Post, a Department of Homeland Security official told Fox News in January this year that 220,000 immigrants evaded border patrol since October 2020. However, that number was not confirmed the Department of Homeland Security.
So the number 5,000 most likely comes from the U.S. Border Patrol, but it lacks the proper context.
The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encounters roughly 5,000 people a day. Those encounters are either apprehensions at legal ports, or apprehensions that are made before undocumented immigrants can cross into the United States.
Immigration is deeply complex
According to Pew Research, “The U.S. admitted only 11,411 refugees in fiscal year 2021, the lowest number since Congress passed the 1980 Refugee Act for those fleeing persecution in their home countries.”
The most prevalent method of immigration is family-sponsored immigrants at 69% for the fiscal 2019. The second was Employment based immigrants. Refugees accounted for only 8% and 6% were asylees and parolees. That number combined is 138,940 which is a far cry from over a million people supposedly entering the country illegally and in secrecy.
According to Pew Research, the number of immigrants arriving at the U.S. border is always fluctuating. There’s not one single policy or person who can change that dynamic as a wide range of immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America. A myriad of factors contributes to the migration of immigrants. Everything from weather, overstaying Visas, escaping turmoil, seeking better opportunities, etc. These factors are dynamics that change every year.
What also puts things into perspective is that also according to Pew Research, “About two-thirds of unauthorized immigrants (66%) had lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years as of 2017, up from 41% 10 years earlier.”
The truth is that there’s no definitive answer about exactly how many people actually are able to cross the border without detection. The New York Post and Fox News are both conservative outlets which have exaggerated stories before — so I reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to confirm those numbers. No one has responded to the inquiry as of yet.
So to put it simply: we’re not at some sort critical level and we need to treat immigrants with dignity and respect.
The GOP is just using yet another fear-mongering tactic to make people think they’re losing their country.
Sadly, they’ve made these immigrants their political pawns. But these immigrants are humans who love and feel as we do.
Remember this stunt when you go to the polls. The group which is led by a Christian faith has done something extraordinarily terrible which goes beyond their usual cultural war grievances.
