Well, That Explains It
[Via Digby] NBC News has come up with the actual US Customs and Border Protection data on “terrorists” at the border:
Overall, 41 people on the Terrorist Screening Database were encountered at the southern border from Oct. 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, but 35 of them were U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Six were classified as non-U.S. persons.
On the northern border, CBP stopped 91 people listed in the database, including 41 who were not American citizens or residents.
The border with Mexico is 1,954 miles and is patrolled by 16,605 agents which is a density of 8.5 agents/mile. The border with Canada is 5,525 miles and is secured by 2,048 agents which is a density of .4 agents/mile.
Given the numbers it is not logical to address a supposed problem on the southern border when you have 7 times as many non-US persons in the Terrorist Screening Database attempting to cross the northern border. With the disparity of resources it would make more sense to direct increased resources to the Canadian border. The illogical reason for what Trump wants to do is the race of the people coming across the southern border.
4 comments
Hey, quit bothering us with those “fact” things when we have bigotry we gotta justify!
The three arrested and convicted terrorists caught at the border had toques, Timbit wrappers, and hockey pucks in their vehicles. There were no somberos, taco papers, or fútbols in the back seat. The Stanley Cup, not the Copa Libertadores, was the hot topic on the newspapers in the backseat. These cross-border arrests took over a decade to accumulate. Real terrorists are born here or fly in.
I just tweeted an excellent opinion piece by Richard Wolffe in The Guardian that pulls no punches. the /snark is strong in this one! 😉 😀
Border wall speech: Trump is losing the macho game of staring himself down in the mirror
He is losing support among Republican Senators, and may be forced to actually veto bills that would reopen the government. The networks are not going to offer free prime time to Trump again, after his pitiful performance.