Trump's Claim About 25 Million 'Illegal Aliens' Raises Eyebrows
- 5 years ago
President Trump is facing scrutiny after publicizing figures related to the cost of illegal immigration in the U.S.
President Trump is facing scrutiny after sharing figures related to the cost of illegal immigration in the U.S.
He tweeted Sunday: "We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168. Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS."
While he seemed to attribute the data to the Department of Homeland Security, the Daily Beast has pointed out that "the department's most recent publicly available estimates of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States is less than half the president's purported minimum."
And, in fact, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney deflected from Trump's tweet on CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday, saying, in part: "I'm not exactly sure where the president got that number this morning...I think he was trying to draw attention to the fact that while the Democrats are sitting here dug in [on border security]…we're spending so much money on other things."
Trump's argument for more border protections comes days after he agreed to a short-term deal to end the partial government shutdown without securing funds for the border wall.
However, he has since insisted on Twitter that a wall will be ultimately built.
"Only fools, or people with a political agenda, don't want a Wall or Steel Barrier to protect our Country from Crime, Drugs and Human Trafficking," he tweeted Saturday. "It will happen - it always does!"
President Trump is facing scrutiny after sharing figures related to the cost of illegal immigration in the U.S.
He tweeted Sunday: "We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168. Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS."
While he seemed to attribute the data to the Department of Homeland Security, the Daily Beast has pointed out that "the department's most recent publicly available estimates of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States is less than half the president's purported minimum."
And, in fact, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney deflected from Trump's tweet on CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday, saying, in part: "I'm not exactly sure where the president got that number this morning...I think he was trying to draw attention to the fact that while the Democrats are sitting here dug in [on border security]…we're spending so much money on other things."
Trump's argument for more border protections comes days after he agreed to a short-term deal to end the partial government shutdown without securing funds for the border wall.
However, he has since insisted on Twitter that a wall will be ultimately built.
"Only fools, or people with a political agenda, don't want a Wall or Steel Barrier to protect our Country from Crime, Drugs and Human Trafficking," he tweeted Saturday. "It will happen - it always does!"