(cache) Acting ICE director accidentally debunks two of Trump's biggest immigration lies

Acting ICE director accidentally debunks two of Trump's biggest immigration lies

Wednesday Jun 28, 2017 · 1:39 PM PDT

2017/06/28 · 13:39

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: (L to R) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Homan and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly listen to questions during a press conference related to President Donald Trump's recent executive order concerning travel and refugees, January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. On Monday night, President Donald Trump fired the acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she released a statement saying the Justice Department would not enforce the president's executive order that places a temporary ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) — Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan and DHS Secretary John Kelly

During yet another off-camera press briefing from White House and federal government officials, acting ICE Director Thomas Homan kneecapped two of Donald Trump’s biggest and boldest lies regarding the undocumented immigrant population. Homan shares a lot of the same anti-immigrant sentiment as his boss, so it seems safe to assume the admissions were most likely a big fat “oops” moment. But yes, someone in there managed to actually tell the truth on immigration for once:

At off-cam WH briefing acting ICE dir. Horman concedes undocumented immigrants do not commit more crimes than native born Americans.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 28, 2017

Head of ICE said number of illegal immigrants are '11-12 million' - and said he 'never heard' of 30 million estimate used by Trump in '16.
— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) June 28, 2017

No wonder they didn’t want cameras around.

The facts are clear: numerous studies have shown that immigrants not only commit less crime than native-born Americans, but higher levels of immigration actually equal safer neighborhoods:

Research has shown virtually no support for the enduring assumption that increases in immigration are associated with increases in crime.

Immigration-crime research over the past 20 years has widely corroborated the conclusions of a number of early 20th-century presidential commisions that found no backing for the immigration-crime connection. Although there are always individual exceptions, the literature demonstrates that immigrants commit fewer crimes, on average, than native-born Americans.

Also, large cities with substantial immigrant populations have lower crime rates, on average, than those with minimal immigrant populations.

As for Trump’s claim that the undocumented immigrant population is really 30 million, Politifact rated that one “Pants of Fire” last year:

Researchers at all of the organizations told us Trump’s statement is wildly inaccurate.

There is "absolutely zero possibility" for the number to be just 3 million or as many as 30 million," according to Robert Warren of the Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan immigration policy think tank.

"There is strong evidence that the number is 11 million, with a plausible margin of error of plus or minus 1 million," he said.

Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Pew Research Center, called both of Trump’s numbers "virtually impossible".

Yet another reminder that none of this is normal when a government officials grabs attention for telling the truth. But don’t give any credit to Homan, though. During that same press briefing, here was his message to immigrant moms and dads getting torn from their families:

ICE off, WH press conf "If you enter this country illegally you should not be comfortable," & if separated from your kids, it is your fault.
— Heather Timmons (@HeathaT) June 28, 2017

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