It kind of makes sense to me...It's similar to a bunch of middle manager's who do whatever is in their best interest to ensure job security (in this case every other GOP candidate). In our "always offended" new society, it means adhering to the politically correct narrative... Trump is shining a very bright light on just how pervasive "pc'ness" has become.
Immigrants and crime: Crunching the numbers By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Updated 10:36 PM ET, Wed July 8, 2015 (CNN)With a presidential election looming, politicians on both sides of the aisle are sparring over immigration in a battle that shows no sign of stopping. Some are pointing to a recent case -- a woman in San Francisco who was killed, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant who'd already been deported five times -- as another sign that the U.S. system is in serious need of an overhaul. But what are the numbers behind the rhetoric? Here's a look at some of the statistics, where they come from and what people on different sides of the debate say about them. 11.2 million That's the latest estimate of the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. And it's less than 4% of the total U.S. population. The number peaked in 2007, according to Pew, when there were an estimated 12.2 million unauthorized immigrants in the country. But since 2009, it's "remained essentially unchanged," Pew reports, as the numbers of undocumented immigrants entering and leaving the United States "have come into rough balance." 177,960 The number of undocumented immigrants deported last year who were convicted criminals, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That's 56% of last year's total number of deportations, according to ICE, and it's a group that the agency says it's putting first when it comes to deciding which cases to prioritize. Ask someone like Republican presidential contender Donald Trump about this number and you'll get an earful about how this statistic and others show rampant crime among undocumented immigrants. Immigrant advocates say that's far from the truth, adding that it's important to look at how the term ICE uses when it talks about convicted criminals -- "criminal alien" -- is defined. "Government statistics on who is being removed from the country can be somewhat deceptive," says Walter Ewing, a senior researcher for the American Immigration Council who helped author a report released this week that argues immigrants are less likely to be criminals than native-born U.S. citizens. "Immigrants who experience even the slightest brush with the criminal justice system, such as being convicted of a misdemeanor, can find themselves subject to detention for an undetermined period, after which they are expelled from the country and barred from returning," the report says. "In other words, for years the government has been redefining what it means to be a 'criminal alien,' using increasingly stringent definitions and standards of 'criminality' that do not apply to U.S. citizens." 121 The number of people released from immigration custody who were later charged with murder between 2010 and 2014, according to figures from the Department of Homeland Security cited in a recent letter from two U.S. senators. That's about a thousandth of a percent of the total estimated number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States. Sen. Jeff Sessions and Sen. Chuck Grassley, both Republicans, have been pointing to this number as they push federal authorities for answers, arguing that "countless innocent Americans every year are the victims of crime perpetrated by deportable criminals." And the recent San Francisco shooting has added fresh fuel to the debate over whether authorities are doing enough to keep harmful offenders off the streets -- and kick them out of the United States. But other officials have stressed that it's important to look at the big picture and not to make knee-jerk decisions based on individual cases. "On the issue of immigration," California Attorney General Kamala Harris said this week, "our policy should not be informed by our collective outrage about one man's conduct." 73,665 The number of inmates in state and federal prisons who are not U.S. citizens, according to the latest prison population report from the Bureau of Judicial Statistics. That's about 5% of the total prison population. More >>
So how many bodies need to pile up before it's a problem? Considering that 6000+ blacks are murdered each year by other blacks without much concern from the left, I'm guessing a few dozen people killed by illegals won't cause much of a stir. Just more collateral damage we must endure to garner the minority vote.
One estimate I read gave $29 billion per year as the cost to staff, operate, and maintain an effective wall between us and Mexico. Edit: but while we're on the "how many bodies" angle, let's return to the issue of gun control...
Okay. What is your suggestion for stopping criminals from getting guns? Criminals are committing the overwhelming number of these killings, and the guns they're using are not being obtained legally. Criminals won't obey any new laws any more than they obey existing laws. So...
That's a fair question, but my analogy is really a question. Is $29 billion per year (not counting the construction costs/loans) an economical price to pay to eliminate (I'm being generous) illegal immigration, in light of the illegal immigrant crime stats above?
Every other country on this globe has closed borders... Why don 't we? How many billions are spent on guarding overseas bases?