Can you trust the government's border numbers?
It's almost like they don't want us to know
Border misapprehension
“What gets measured gets managed.” — Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management
“Good luck with that.” — Federal Government
I love digging into data.
Yet, there’s a simple question I’ve found virtually impossible to answer: “How many illegal aliens enter the U.S. each year?” That’s intentional. The government knows how to play with figures so well that it leaves even the “experts” scratching their heads.
For as long as I’ve covered illegal immigration on our southern border — under multiple administrations — the Federal government has played games with the numbers, continually spinning them to make the border look secure.
“We detained a record number of border crossers. We’re doing great!” Or, conversely, “We detained fewer border crossers. Our ‘deterrence’ efforts are working … we’re doing great!”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, there were about 7.2 million encounters with illegal migrants during the Biden administration.
What’s an “encounter” you might ask? It’s a stop of and recognition that a person isn’t a legal U.S. resident, and is as clear as mud. An "encounter" could mean anything—a quick chat, an arrest, or even a wave goodbye as someone walks into the U.S. Slippery words like this confuse even the experts.
How many of those apprehended disappear into the country instead of attending their hearing? The government doesn’t keep understandable statistics, but it’s safe to say that over the last decade, if they all lived near one another, they’d likely be America’s largest city.
Then there are the 'ones who got away,' never even seen by border enforcement. Some estimate them at 600,000 per year, but it’s like asking a fisherman how many fish he didn’t catch at the lake. Without a complete border system, good luck with that.
And let's not forget the now-defunct Title 42, a Trump-era policy that, citing the pandemic, turned away nearly 3 million migrants at the border before it was halted by the Biden administration. The result? A new surge at the border that's as difficult to quantify as it is to control.
Gallup polled Latin American countries and added up the number of people who said they’d like to permanently immigrate to the U.S. The count? 42 million. I can’t blame them, but that’s a lot of people wanting to move north.
So, what’s the best estimate of how many illegals have actually settled into the country under the current administration? The closest we can come up with is ... “millions.”
— Ken
I’ve long thought that the notion of Mexico being our “good neighbor” to the south is just utter bullish!t. Yet we get so many politicians of all stripes who keep uttering this vacuous lie.
Mexico is essentially a narco-republic … a country controlled by criminal mafias.
There are lots of reasons for this, one of which is Mexico’s justice system which is based on Napoleonic Code, i.e., the accused must prove his innocence. The average Mexican citizen doesn’t have the wherewithal to “prove his innocence” while a cartel chief can easily “prove his innocence” by paying off the police chief, or prosecutor, or judge.
The relationship between Mexico and the United States is akin to the relationship between a drug dealer and a drug addict, or even like a brutally abusive husband and an abused wife with Stockholm Syndrome.
Mexico is not our friend nor is it our ally.
Despite this, I still occasionally visit Mexico for day trips. There is just something about Mexico culture and food that I find charming.
In the meantime, watch your six in Mexico amigo … vaya con Dios.
I believe the federal government has no idea how many illegals are crossing our border and frankly, I don’t think they care. My major concern is the vast majority are young men. I don’t think that bodes well for our security. Many terrorists and for that matter, foreign troops, could easily cross our border in preparation for future conflict.
Enjoy your trip to Mexico.