Response to Anti-Immigrant Propaganda

A few years ago there was a set of factoids supposedly from the Los Angeles Times. The factoids were spread via email and were posted on various blogs and websites to the extent that the LA Times itself put on its own website a statement that said factoids did NOT originate from the LA Times. In addition, the LA Times refuted the content of the factoids. Many of the factoids were found to be lies or unsubstantiated claims.

In 2006, an email was circulating that included similar factoids. It claimed that said factoids came from an INS/FBI report. The fact that the INS hadn’t existed for years didn’t stop people from spreading the email as if it were factual. Many of the factoids were copies of the LA Times factoids. Some new ones were added. Most of the factoids were found to be lies or unsubstantiated claims.

A columnist by the name of Frosty Woolridge came up with the series of lies for 2007. As expected, most of the factoids are untrue. Some are outright lies, but others are based on actual facts but exaggerated to make the effect of illegal aliens to seem more severe. Some of the factoids seem to have an actual basis.Below are the factoids presented by Woolridge along with the actual data.

How Much Further Into This Nightmare?By Frosty Wooldridge1-22-7

1. $11 billion to $22 billion spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year. www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8The link provided leads to a FAIR report. The report states that each year, state governments spend an estimated $11 billion to $22 billion to provide welfare to immigrants. A reference is made to footnote 2. Footnote 2 refers to a report by Center for Immigration Studies CIS “Back Where We Started: An Examination of Trends in Immigrant Welfare Use Since Welfare Reform”. The CIS report contains no documentation to support the claim that FAIR made.

A chart in the CIS report finds that 24.3% of illegal immigrant households used some welfare program. The average payment was $1,040. The report says there were about 8 million illegal immigrants in the country in 2002. Estimate 3 persons per household. The result is less than $1 billion. The FAIR report does not state how they arrived at the $11 billion to $22 billion figure from the CIS report.Conclusion: Woodridge’s reference does not support his claim.

2. $2.2 billion dollars a year spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

The report linked to states that food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches imposed a cost of $1.9 billion. However, the figure is only an estimate.

Conclusion: Woolridge misstated this.

3. $2.5 billion dollars a year spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
The report linked to does state that Medicaid for illegal aliens cost $2.5 billion. However, the figure is only an estimate.Conclusion: This factoid is based on an estimate, but based on the report it’s more like a wild guess. Woolridge reported it as if it were an actual fact.

4. $12 billion dollars a year spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
The link refers to the April 1, 2006 transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight. In the transcript, reporter Christine Romans states that The Federation for American Immigration Reform says taxpayers spend $12 billion a year on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally.

A report by FAIR from 2005 entitled “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools Into the Red” provides the basis for these claims. What the FAIR report blatantly fails to include are the taxes paid by the immigrants and the return on the investment of education.A family with two children in school pays property taxes of $3,000 per year. The cost to the school district is $16,000 resulting in a net cost to taxpayers of $13,000 per year. However, before and after the children are in school, the family pays real estate taxes. In addition, after the children graduate, their education will result in increased earnings potential. Some studies have found that merely graduating high school increases a student’s lifetime earnings potential by as much as 40%. The result is a net benefit to society as a whole.

Conclusion: Woolridge selected which information to include thereby misrepresenting the actual situation.

5. $17 billion dollars a year spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
See the response to item 4.

6. $3 million dollars a day spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
The link refers to the April 1, 2006 transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight. In the transcript, reporter Christine Romans states that according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, taxpayers spend more than $3 million every day to house non-U.S. citizen in our federal prisons. Read the statement carefully. Christine Romans refers to non-U.S. citizens.

Conclusion: Woodridge changed that to illegal aliens thereby exaggerating the effect of illegal aliens.

7. 29 percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
The link refers to the April 1, 2006 transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight. In the transcript, reporter Christine Romans states that according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 30 percent of federal prisoners are not U.S. citizens.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports that 73.6 % of inmates are U.S. citizens thereby 26.4% are not U.S. citizens. http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#1 The number who are illegal aliens would therefore be much lower.

Conclusion: Woolridge took a statement that refers to persons who are not U.S. citizens and changed it to read illegal aliens thereby exaggerating the effect of illegal aliens.

8. $90 billion dollars a year spent on illegal aliens for welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
The link refers to the October 29, 2006 transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight. The transcript quotes Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation as saying, “the total cost of services and benefits provided to them, education, welfare, general social services would be about $90 billion a year.”Rector has conducted an extensive study that estimated the costs of illegal immigrant households on taxpayers. The study concluded that, in 2004, there were 4.5 million low-skill immigrant households with an average net fiscal deficit of $19,588 per household, the total annual fiscal deficit for all of these households together equaled $89.1 billion. Notice that Rector uses the term "immigrant" households. In his analysis only 40% of these households are headed by illegal immigrants. The other 60% are headed by legal immigrants. So only 40% of the $90 billion can be attributed to illegal immigrants, i.e. $36 billion. Because illegal immigrants are not eligible to receive some government services, the actual estimate would have to be even below that figure.

Over and over again we are seeing misstatement of facts. Every misstatement makes the effects of illegal immigration seem worse than it actually is. Woolridge is intentionally manipulating the wording in order to create a false impression.

9. $200 billion Dollars a year in lost-suppressed American wages caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
The link refers to the April 1, 2006 transcript of Lou Dobbs Tonight. In this transcript, host Lou Dobbs states, “That economy, we know the estimates by the most authoritative and recent study put the suppressed wages at $200 billion a year, as a result of immigration, both legal and illegal.”The report Dobbs was referring to was an estimate by Dr. George Borjas, a Harvard University professor. Dr. Borjas considered the effects of immigration from 1980 through 2000. Had the study considered the effects of immigration after the year 2000, a higher calculation may have resulted. In this case Woolridge cites a fact.

Conclusion: While the statement is based on fact, the deception is in what is left out. Over the years, the U.S., in addition to receiving immigrants, has received trillions of dollars in investment from abroad. Economists are in agreement in that this investment from abroad results in increased productivity. This increase in productivity results not only in increased profits for business but increased wages for workers.Additionally, the $200 billion in reduced wages does not constitute a net loss to society. The wages lost by workers is made up by increase profits for businesses, increased return on investment by investors and lower prices for consumers.

10. Illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of citizen-taxpayer Americans. Their children make a huge additional crime problem in the United States. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
The link refers to a transcript of the June 12, 2006 broadcast of Lou Dobbs Tonight. The transcript quotes Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation as saying, “Hispanics in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-Hispanics.” Note that Rector’s comment refers to Hispanics, not illegal aliens.

Conclusion: Woolridge took a statement that refers to Hispanics and changed it to read illegal aliens thereby exaggerating the effect of illegal aliens.

11. During the year of 2005, there were 4 to 10 million illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border. In addition, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens arrived from terrorist countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the Southern border. http://www.house.gov/mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf
The link refers to a report prepared by the House committee on Homeland Security.The report states that during 2005, the Border patrol apprehended approximately 1.2 million illegal aliens. 650 were from special interest countries, i.e. “countries that could export individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism.” The report also states that Federal law enforcement estimates that 10 percent to 30 percent of illegal aliens are actually apprehended. Using these figures, one can see how the 4 to 10 million figure was arrived at.

With respect to illegal immigrants from terrorist countries, this figure is vastly overstated. Using the figures from the report, about 1,500 to 6,000 illegal aliens from terrorist countries may have crossed the border in 2005 according to this report.

The website for the U.S. Border Patrol confirms that 1.2 million individuals were apprehended while trying to illegally enter the United States.Conclusion: Woolridge misrepresented the report.

12. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 billion in remittances back to their countries of origin. Obfuscation may have hidden $35 Billion more. http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/15795654.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_nation
The link refers to an article in the Contra Costa Times. Following the link, one is directed to the main page of the Contra Costa Times. A search of the Contra Costa Times reveals no articles that support this claim.

A report released by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that immigrants living in the United States sent $45 billion to family members in 2006.

Conclusion: Woolridge took a statement that refers to total remittances and changed it to read remittances by illegal aliens thereby exaggerating the effect of illegal aliens.

13. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States." http://www.drdsk.com/articles.html

http://www.drsk.com/ is a webpage of a Violent Crimes Institute. One article found on this website is entitled “The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States”. The article is written by one Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, Ph.D. Violent Crimes Institute, Atlanta, GeorgiaThe writer arrived at this figure as follows: She estimated the number of illegal aliens at 12,000,000. She examined ICE reports and public records and found that sex offenders comprise 2% of illegal aliens apprehended. She estimated that each sex offender has 4 victims.

Thus, she concluded that there are 240,000 illegal alien sex offenders in the United States each having four victims thereby arriving at the one million figure.

The article makes an erroneous assumption: that illegal aliens not apprehended by law enforcement commit sex crimes at the same rate as those that are apprehended by law enforcement. A report by the Government Accountability Office GAO-05-646R identified over 55,000 illegal aliens in federal and state prisons and local jails and identified that those criminals had committed 11,833 sex offenses.

14. Every day (average), 12 Americans are murdered by an illegal alien. Another 13 Americans are killed by uninsured drunk illegal aliens, and Eight American Children are victims of a sex crime committed by an illegal alien each day! http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/ia05_king/col_20060505_bite.html

These false statements are taken from a statement released by Congressman Steve King. King has never provided any data to support these claims.

Conclusion: While Woolridge did cite Steve King, he failed to verify the accuracy of the statement.

15. Today, criminal aliens account for over 29 percent of prisoners in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities and a higher share of all federal prison inmates. These prisoners represent the fastest growing segment of the federal prison population. http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters0b9c
This is from a FAIR report entitled “Criminal Aliens”. It is a collection of information about criminal aliens. Note that the term criminal alien refers to non-citizens who commit crimes and does not refer exclusively to illegal aliens.

16. "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine," "Many illegal aliens harbor fatal diseases that American Medicine fought and vanquished long ago, such as drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, plague, polio, dengue and Chagas disease." The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. http://www.jpands.org/jpands1001.htm
This refers to an article by Madeleine Pelner Cosman. The article contains exaggerations and false statements. In an interview with Democracy Now, Lou Dobbs referred to Dr. Cosman as a whack job.

17. In 2002, HIV/AIDS was the third leading cause of death among Hispanic men aged 35 to 44 and the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic women in the same age group. Most Hispanic men were exposed to HIV through sexual contact with other men. Source (U.S. CDC):http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/hispanic.htm
The link is to a webpage of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The page states that HIV/AIDS was the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic/Latino men and women aged 35 to 44. HIV was the fifth leading cause of death for all men and women aged 35 to 44.

18. If enacted, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S. 2611) would be the most dramatic change in immigration law in 80 years, granting Amnesty to 30 million illegal immigrants, and allowing an estimated 100-203 million persons to legally immigrate to the U.S. over the next 20-40 years ­ a number equal to fully two-thirds of the current population of the United States. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm1076.cfm

The link is to a report by Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. He estimates that the number of legal immigrants who would enter the country or would gain legal status would be around 66 million over the next 20 years. The CIRA, S. 2611 was never passed and the finding is irrelevant.

19. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) today unveiled an impact analysis that shows the Senate immigration bill ­ should it become law ­ would permit up to 217.1 million new legal immigrants into the United States over the next 20 years, a number equal to more than 70 percent of the total current population. http://sessions.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=255553&&

The link is to a report of Senator Jeff Sessions who estimated that Senate immigration bill of 2006 would have permitted between 78.7 and 217.1 million new legal immigrants into the United States over the next 20 years. The bill never passed.

20. The number of illegal immigrants in the United States is at least 20 million, and may be as many as 30 million people, more than triple the official nine million people estimated by the Census Bureau. 03 Jan 2005. http://www.bearstearns.com/bscportal/pdfs/underground.pdf

The link is to a report that states that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States “may be” as high as 20 million. Woolridge again exaggerated the statement in the link he provided.Conclusion: Woolridge misstated the claim to exaggerate the effects of illegal immigration.

21. Cases of Leprosy on the Rise In The U.S., The New York Times. "While there were some 900 recorded cases in the United States 40 years ago, today more than 7,000 people have leprosy." Leprosy is an airborne virus; it can also be spread by touching and coughing. http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/03_Disease/030226.leprosy.in.US.htmlhttp://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-03-15/whitford-americanleprosyhttp://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=78621
The following chart shows that the reported cases of leprosy in the United States have been declining steadily since the 80s. http://www.cdc.gov/epo/dphsi/annsum/2003/slides/hansgraf.ppt#256,1,Slide 1

Conclusion: While Woolridge may have cited his source correctly, he failed to verify the data. Woolridge himself is a good example as to why it is so important not to believe something just because it’s in print.

There are some patterns here. The first one is taking what is clearly an estimate and reporting it as if it were an actual fact. Another is taking a data and changing one aspect of it in order to exaggerate the effects of illegal immigration. For example, taking the total number of non-citizens in prison and changing it to the total number of illegal aliens in prison. The act overstates the number of illegal aliens in prison and, at the same time, the subtle change may be overlooked by a casual reader.

Another pattern is citing an article or statement as fact without considering the reliability. Sometimes the factoid is blatant untrue like the claim by Congressman Steve King. Other times it’s spun or stretched or exaggerated like the case of leprosy.Another pattern is conveniently selecting facts that support your conclusion and conveniently leaving out contradictory information. Yet another pattern is citing a convenient estimate. When citing an estimate, he picks the estimate (whether it be number of illegal aliens or the costs) that support your conclusion without noting disputing estimates.

The end result is a reckless, dishonest excuse for journalism.At the time of this writing, it is unknown what factoids will be invented for 2008 or who will come up with these factoids. One thing is certain and that is that some anti-immigrant fanatic will come up with a list of lies and represent them as facts.