Right-Wing Lie of the Day 0013

"We will have more people enter our country illegally than were born in this country in one year." -- Dan Patrick

Some context:
In 2017, 3.8 million births were recorded in the US, a 30-year low. In 2019, border apprehensions were projected to reach "as high as 1 million." Patrick made this claim in 2019, referencing the 2017 birth rate and 2019 projected border apprehensions as supporting evidence.

To support this lie, Patrick claimed that only one out of four or five individuals who attempt illegal entry are apprehended, which would mean that 4-5 million people illegally enter the US each year.

The first flaw in Patrick's claim is that the projected border apprehensions include people encountered attempting to enter the country legally at ports
of entry, not just people trying to cross the border illegally.

The second flaw is that his estimate of a 20-25% apprehension rate is way
off. The Department of Homeland Security put the apprehension rate for 2017
at 65-75%, and the Office of Immigration Statistics estimated it to be
55-85%. Both of these are significantly higher than Patrick's 20-25% claim.

There is no evidence to support Patrick's claim that more people enter our country illegally than are born here each year.

More info: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jun/05/dan-patrick/no-more-people-wi ll-not-enter-united-states-illega/

Jeff.

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