“Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded” — Gov. Jan Brewer
Except, they aren’t. Governor Brewer’s latest lie, deployed defending Arizona’s SB 1070 and other anti-immigrant measures, is 100% false. Is anyone actually surprised by this, though? Every other claim Brewer, and her restrictionist allies make has been thoroughly debunked — border violence rising? — debunked. Phoenix, the kidnapping capital of the world?, Debunked.. Immigrants responsible for police killings? Debunked.
Dana Milbank, taking to the op-ed pages of the Washington Post, goes a step further:
Two months ago, the Arizona Republic published an exhaustive report that found that, according to statistics from the FBI and Arizona police agencies, crime in Arizona border towns has been “essentially flat for the past decade.” For example, “In 2000, there were 23 rapes, robberies and murders in Nogales, Ariz. Last year, despite nearly a decade of population growth, there were 19 such crimes.” The Pima County sheriff reported that “the border has never been more secure.” FBI statistics show violent crime rates in all of the border states are lower than they were a decade ago — yet Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reports that the violence is “the worst I have ever seen.”
It shouldn’t be surprising that restrictionists are resorting to out and out lies to support their cause — it’s all they have — but unfortunately Matt Yglesias is right when he says “when Dana Milbank or I or anyone else tries to set the record straight, that just goes to show that we’re liberals. So anyone who wants to be seen as credible in conservative circles doesn’t want to take these ideas on. So people become even more entrenched in the view that illegal immigration is causing a plague of violence. Which makes it even harder for anyone to bring some facts to the table.”
So despite numerous studies and reports it still seems impossible to have a rational, fact-based debate on immigration reform — unfortunately, because the other side isn’t interested in facts.
Categories: Arizona
