By Jon Sutz, Editor, SaveTheWest.com
December 16, 2018
(I) Ten vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know
(II) Other relevant information that puts these numbers into context
A conflict has erupted over President Trump’s request for $5 billion to construct vital portions of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. His core argument is that America must secure its southern border to help stop the flow of citizens of other nations, violent criminals, illicit drugs and terrorists from illegally entering the U.S. Democratic leaders in Congress and the Senate, however, claim Trump’s assertions are inaccurate, that the notion of constructing a wall is “immoral,” and that they will oppose any funding for this purpose. Most recently, incoming Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she will keep the government “closed forever” rather than allowing any money to be used for a wall:
Nancy Pelosi suggests she’ll keep the U.S. government “closed forever” before she’ll fund the border wall.pic.twitter.com/aob3nvJJSX
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 13, 2018
Learn more about each side’s position here. Recently, SaveTheWest produced a report, “Who benefits from the lies being spread about the ‘caravans’?” which exposed some of the lies being spread by influential media and political figures about the issue, and identified the four key groups that they benefit:
While the political battle now being waged is over Trump’s $5 billion funding request, little has been reported that puts this number into context of other numbers that are vital to this discussion. The purpose of this report is: To place this number into a rational context
(I) Ten vital numbers regarding President Trump’s $5 billion funding request for the border wall that every American should know
Sources: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) FY 2019, a CBS News article citing data from the CBO, U.S. Treasury and Washington Post, and a Wall St. Journal article.
(2) 0.0012%: The one-time $5 billion expenditure President Trump wants appropriated for the wall is 1/820th (0.0012%) of America’s $4.1 trillion budget.Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO) FY 2019.
(3) 99% effective: Border walls of the type Trump seeks to construct have proven to be 99% effective at stopping illegal entry in Hungary, Israel and other nations.Sources: A report by the government of Hungary, a PolitiFact investigation of claims that Israel’s border walls are 99% effective.
(4) $135 billion*: The estimated cost of illegal aliens to American taxpayers at the federal, state and local level, is $135 billion each year, which is 1/30th, or 3.3% of our $4.1 trillion federal budget. Given the escalating births among illegal aliens, more than half of whom receive at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare, this number is growing each year. [*UPDATE: Per a Sept. 2018 MIT-Yale study, the actual cost is likely closer to $250 billion per year, or 6.1% of our federal budget; see Fact (7).]Source: A Gatestone Institute report, citing data from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies, Crime Prevention Research Center, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
(5) 297,000 births per year: Females illegal aliens in the U.S. gave birth to an estimated 297,000 babies in 2014 (13.4% of all babies born in America that year). Upon delivery, all were instantly classified as American citizens, and entitled to the full spectrum of taxpayer-funded welfare, healthcare, educational and housing benefits. The estimated cost to American taxpayers for the healthcare during and immediately after these births is $2.4 billion per year.Source: Washington Examiner article, citing a Center for Immigration Studies analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data; Also, Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics 2014 data.
(6) $30 billion per year: The estimated cost of illegal aliens to California taxpayers is $30 billion each year, which is nearly 18% of the state’s entire annual budget. [UPDATE: Per a Sept. 2018 MIT-Yale study, the actual cost is likely closer to $55 billion per year, or 32% of CA’s budget; see Fact (7).]Source: National Economics Editorial report.
(7) $250 billion per year: A joint MIT-Yale University report, published in September 2018, showed that rather than the oft-cited estimate of 11-12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. (on which the above estimates were based), there are actually closer to 22 million. This means that the estimated cost to U.S. taxpayers of illegal aliens in the U.S. is likely closer to $250 billion per year, rather than the $135 billion per year, as reported in (4).Sources: Bloomberg article on the MIT-Yale study, and its methodology; Pew Research data, cited in National Economics Editorial report.
(8) 63% on welfare: An estimated 63% of illegal aliens in the U.S. are receiving at least one form of taxpayer-funded welfare.Sources: Investor’s Business Daily article, citing data from the Center for Immigration Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, Wall St. Journal research, and other data.
(9) Illegal aliens are more than twice as likely to engage in criminal behavior on U.S. soil. According to research data from Arizona between 1985 and 2017, illegal aliens were 142% more likely to be convicted of a crime than other Arizonans. They also tend to commit more serious crimes, and are 45% more likely to be involved in criminal gangs.Sources: Crime Prevention Research Bureau data;
(10) 80% of fentanyl is smuggled from Mexico: According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 80% of the fentanyl sold in the America is smuggled by Mexican drug cartels, over the U.S. southern border. Background: Fentanyl is an ultra-deadly synthetic opiate, a few granules of which can kill an adult. Islamist terrorist gangs, which are documented to be collaborating with Mexican drug cartels, are reportedly intent on using fentanyl to kill Americas via mass-dispersal devices. One arrest, in May 2018, contained enough fentanyl to kill 26 million Americans. Learn more here, including about recent incidents of U.S. authorities’ interdicting massive amounts of fentanyl at our Mexican border.Sources: San Diego Union article, citing data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and other federal agencies; Also, a supplement to SaveTheWest’s recent report: Fentanyl smuggling: The little-known but potentially catastrophic component of transnational terrorist activity at the U.S. border.
UPDATE: (11) 72% of illegals arrested by ICE have criminal convictions: Of Illegal aliens in the U.S. who are arrested by ICE officers, 89% have a criminal record, and 72% have at least one criminal conviction. Sources: Washington Examiner article, citing data from Thomas Homan, former ICE Director, and Center for Immigration Studies data.(II) Other relevant information that puts these numbers into context
It is assumed that many if not most of those from Central and South America who wish to enter the U.S. are peaceful and law-abiding. As documented in SaveTheWest’s recent report, “Who benefits from the lies being spread about the ‘caravans’?,” however, there is eminently legitimate reasons for grave concerns about who may be traveling with them, including previously-deported criminal illegal aliens, violent criminal gang members, woman & child sex traffickers, and Islamist terrorists. That said, there is tangential information that puts the Ten vital facts that every American should know about the Border Wall issue into a broader, relevant context, that is required for concerned Americans to formulate a reality-based assessment of the $5 billion President Trump seeks for continued work on the wall.Until recently, many top Democrats were also very supportive of erecting a physical barrier at the U.S. southern border, and of combating illegal entry into the the U.S. by foreign nationals.
If a rational being from another world were able to begin observing Earth for the first time, in May 2018, he or she would conclude that President Trump instituted an unprecedented, unlawful series of policies to prevent illegal aliens from entering America, and to swiftly return them to their nations of origin. This impression would be particularly strong if such a being only observed the “news” media that targets young people, which depict Trump as a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” a “racist,” and a “dictator.”
The reality, however, is that (a) all Trump has done is order that existing laws, passed by Congress, be enforced, and (b) senior Democratic Party political figures have been making almost identical statements as Trump, since 1994. Further, significant swaths of mainstream Democrats in Congress have voted in the past to construct a 700 mile physical barrier along America’s southern border, to prevent illegal aliens from entering America.
Below is a sampling of the many statements made by these and other top Democrats — most of whom are now vilifying President Trump for statements that sound almost exactly like those of leaders of their own party.
1994: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), explicitly advocating for strong US border protection and enforcement of immigration laws, and denouncing the costs and crimes caused by illegal aliens
Consider Feinstein’s words — and the fact that she got elected and re-elected on this platform:
“I think we can enforce our borders. I think we should enforce our borders. To have a situation where 40 percent of the babies born on Medicaid in California today are born of illegal immigrants creates a very real problem for the state which is in deficit … to have 17 percent of our prison population at a cost of $300 million a year be illegal immigrants who come here and commit felonies – that’s not what this nation is all about.”
1996: President Bill Clinton, articulating the need for strong border protection against illegal aliens, and laws against any business that employs them
“There are some areas that the federal government should not leave and should address and address strongly. One of these areas is the problem of illegal immigration. After years of neglect, this administration has taken a strong stand to stiffen the protection of our borders. We are increasing border controls by 50 percent. We are increasing inspections to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. And tonight, I announce I will sign an executive order to deny federal contracts to businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
“Let me be very clear about this: We are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it. We should honor every legal immigrant here, working hard to become a new citizen. But we are also a nation of laws.”
2005: Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) on the cost of illegal aliens, the cultural resentment their open-borders rallies cause, and the urgent need to protect America via a strong border wall
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.”
2006: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) supporting the construction of physical barrier to prevent illegal aliens from entering America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“The bill before us will certainly do some good. It will authorize some badly needed funding for better fences and better security along our borders and that should help stem some of the tide of illegal immigration in this country.”
2006: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wrote in his book about his resentment over support for illegal Mexican aliens in America, and the economic impact on our economy
From The Audacity of Hope:, as reported by the Daily Caller (with audio). If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
“When I see Mexican flags waved at pro-immigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration. […]
“[T]his huge influx of mostly low-skill workers… threatens to depress further the wages of blue-collar Americans and put strains on an already overburdened safety net [welfare system].”
“[T]here’s no denying that many blacks share the same anxieties as many whites about the wave of illegal immigration flooding our Southern border—a sense that what’s happening now is fundamentally different from what has gone on before.”
2006: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), in support of a physical barrier to prevent illegal aliens from entering America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of a Republican?
“I don’t oppose building a fence where you need to do it where the border is porous. I just don’t have a problem with that.”
2014: Sec. Hillary Clinton claimed that illegal alien children should be sent back to their nation of origin — and America’s borders be secured
In an ultimate irony, four years later she is condemning President Trump for saying effectively the exact same things that she did, on June 17, 2014. If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of President Trump?
They [illegal alien children] should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who the responsible adults in their families are. There are concerns about whether all of them can be sent back, but I think all of them who can be should be reunited with their families [in their native countries]. […]
We have to do more to deal with the violence in this region, to deal with border security, but we have to send a clear message that just because your child gets across the border that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay. We don’t want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or that will encourage more children to take that dangerous journey.
2014: President Obama advised parents in Mexico and Central America to not send their children to the U.S. border; “They will be sent back”
Starting in late 2012-early 2013, Obama began using U.S. taxpayer money to advertise to Central Americans and Mexicans that America’s welfare agencies are prohibited from asking about residency status or national origin. Yet on June 26, 2014, he said this on ABC News:
“Our message absolutely is don’t send your children unaccompanied, on trains or through a bunch of smugglers. We don’t even know how many of these kids don’t make it, and may have been waylaid into sex trafficking or killed because they fell off a train. Do not send your children to the [U.S.] borders. If they do make it [to the U.S. border], they’ll get sent back.”
2015: Sec. Hillary Clinton said she supports building a physical barrier to prevent the influx of illegal aliens into America
If you saw only these words, today, and were asked who said them, would you not think they came from the mouth of a Republican?
“I voted numerous times when I was a Senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in and I do think you have to control your borders.”
Conclusion
How many Americans are aware of the data contained in this section, and these quotes by top Democrats — many of whom are now crucifying President Trump for making almost identical statements?
And how much would this knowledge affect the hysteria now sweeping America, and “social justice” groups, who have come to falsely believe that President Trump is enacting immoral, illegal instructions to ICE, CBP and other federal agencies, to “terrorize immigrants”?
Until these facts, and these questions, are presented to the American people, it will be impossible to extricate ourselves from the quagmire of lies, hate and violence that their absence has caused.
Source: Ilán Semo, a political historian at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City, cited by USA Today
Major cities and states across America are enabling illegal aliens to vote in elections. Every one of these cities is run by Democrats. Examples: San Francisco registers non-citizens to vote in school election – Miami Herald Trump Is Right: Millions Of Illegals Probably Did Vote In 2016 – Investor’s Business Daily Noncitizens, Voting Violations and U.S. Elections – Federation for American Immigration Reform ===================== Now, a few questions: If you broke into another country, and were shuttled onto an alphabet soup of (taxpayer-funded) welfare programs, from housing to healthcare, education to food, and there are two candidates running for Congress from the district in which you live — one who wants to shower more taxpayer-funded benefits on you and your family, and the other who not only wants to scale back or eliminate those benefits for illegal aliens — and is standing for sealing our southern border, to prevent any more illegal aliens from breaking into America, which candidate would you support? Even if you can’t vote (yet), for which candidate would you campaign? Which would you donate money to? Which would you volunteer to go knocking on doors for, making calls on behalf of, and writing (fake) letters to the editor for, and sharing their propaganda online? Which candidate would you eagerly start calling a “racist” and “xenophobe” at public hearings and debates — and which would you do everything in your power to protect? ===================== THINK. Is it worth a one-time expenditure of $5 billion to help stop the flow of illegal aliens, drugs, criminal gangs, repeatedly-deported criminal illegal aliens, and terrorists and terror-supporters from flowing over our southern border? https://savethewest.com/