It is safe to say that the vast majority of people that are opposed to Presidential candidate Trump do not wish to see assassination as a tool to end his candidacy - as well as to see any of his supporters murdered or hurt in such an egregious act.
This assassination attempt on Donald Trump was ironically avoided by the former President turning his head to view a chart related to illegal immigration. I use the word “ironically” as the chart is typical of the type of misinformation that is all too common from Trump.
There is no question that illegal entry into the United States is a problem that needs concerted attention. It is sad that the bipartisan bill that would comprehensively attack this issue was killed by Republicans following a directive by Trump. Trump feels keeping this problem on the table helps his candidacy.
What also helps his candidacy is to pile on false claims. Let’s examine a few that are circulated by him and his echo chamber regarding illegal immigration.
One concern in MAGA circles is that illegal immigrants skew election results by illegally voting to support democratic party candidates.
“Illegal” is the operative word here as voting in a federal election by any noncitizen is explicitly prohibited within the “Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.”
So what happens if a non-citizen votes in a federal election? The law calls for a fine and up to one year in prison and possible deportation and revocation of any form of legal status. If US citizenship is falsely claimed to vote, deportation and denial of future immigration status results.
So how many noncitizens have voted? Between 2003 and 2023, the Heritage Foundation analysis of Election Fraud Cases found 24 instances.
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Trump claimed that “In addition to winning the electoral college, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people that voted illegally.” Yet, in addition to the case review by the Heritage Foundation countering Trump’s claim, the Brennan Center for Justice checked in 42 jurisdictions where 24.5 million votes were cast that year. They found approximately 30 cases.
What about noncitizens sneaking in and receiving social security benefits? This is possible only when they have achieved lawful status and received a social security number. One analysis has found that undocumented workers have paid in $27 billion without receiving Social Security benefits.
One of the things that Trump likes to point out on the “Chart” is the low point in illegal immigration that occurred during his administration. He often claims this was how he left the status of illegal entry into the US.
The “Chart” actually highlights a point in the peak of the Covid lockdown in April 2020, not when he left office. In fact, when he left office, it was 4 times higher than the low point he points out. Not only that, Trump’s final tally is 14.7% higher than it was before he took office according to Factcheck.org.
It turns out that the Obama/Biden administration had lower numbers of illegal entries than Trump/Pence. Furthermore, Obama/Biden, as cited by Ron DeSantis and reported by PolitiFact, deported more illegal immigrants than Trump earning Obama the title “Deporter-in-Chief” by immigrant rights advocates.
It certainly appears that the huge investment in a new border wall and enforcement was not giving a good result.
Speaking of the border wall: Trump claims he built “571 miles of wall.” The actual result is that 458 miles of border wall system was built. The Custom and Border Protection status report of January 22, 2021, indicates that 373 miles was a replacement of primary or secondary fencing. It turns out that 52 miles of primary wall and 33 miles of secondary wall were built where no barriers existed before.
We can also say that the border wall built under Trump did not help the Biden/Harris numbers pertaining to illegal immigrants.
A steep increase of illegal immigrant apprehensions under Biden undoubtedly brought this issue to the forefront such that the Biden administration pushed hard for the bipartisan bill to get it under control.
When that bipartisan bill was killed by Trump; Biden, albeit belatedly, took executive action by barring asylum claims for those entering illegally when certain thresholds of apprehensions are reached.
Even though the numbers of illegal entries dropped under Biden below Trump’s final month’s tally in May of this year, Biden signed the executive order in June.
By resorting to an Executive Order that will undoubtedly face legal challenges, Biden shows he understands the concern of many Americans about illegal immigration and demonstrates that he will respond.
Nonetheless, we have to acknowledge that Trump preparing to show a chart on illegal immigration in his usual deceptive self-aggrandizing manner helped him dodge a bullet.
The chart certainly proved worthwhile to him. However, it is only worthwhile to voters if they see the real facts.
W Laurence Doxsey, Retired, Former Director of Office of Sustainability for City of San Antonio, former Environmental Officer for US Department of Housing and Urban Development, former Sustainability Officer for City of Austin, resides outside Medina.
