Yesterday we were talking about what would be involved in actually enforcing a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Today, I want to highlight an interesting article from Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe, entitled “On Immigration: Trump’s World vs. Reality.” In this article Cohen does a nice job of summing up the unreconstructed lies that the Donald used in his speech in Phoenix to justify his anti-immigration policies:
- In Trump’s world, “countless innocent American lives have been stolen” because of undocumented immigrants committing crime.[1] In reality, the Obama administration has prioritized the deportation of undocumented immigrants who’ve committed crimes, all the while presiding over the deportation of 2.5 million people — the highest number of any president in history.
- In Trump’s world, “Hillary Clinton has pledged amnesty in her first 100 days and her plan will provide Obamacare, Social Security, and Medicare for illegal immigrants breaking the federal budget.” In reality, none of this is even remotely true.
- In Trump’s world, Mexico will pay for the wall he wants to build along the southern border. In reality, the Mexican president told Trump, in person, that Mexico would not pay for the wall – several hours before Trump delivered his speech.[2]
Again, this blog has been very concerned with demonstrating propaganda “in action,” and here it is. A Presidential candidate shouldn’t be allowed to lie without any compunction. This is so much different from Hillary Clinton’s occasional shading of the truth – which is something that I’ve upbraided her for on multiple occasions.
[1] In his Phoenix speech the Donald recounted several gruesome tales of murders committed by immigrants, and falsely blamed the Obama administration for allowing “thousands of criminal aliens to freely roam our streets.”
[2]It should also be noted that undocumented immigrants pay taxes, are ineligible for food stamps, Medicaid or welfare, and add billions of dollars a year to the Social Security system that they will never see in benefits.