Patton: Trump's Immigration Speech Riddled With Misinformation

Back in the bad old days, when news traveled slowly, a politician could say one thing in one part of his district and the exact opposite in another, and no one knew the difference. Then, national media and videotapes came along to expose any inconsistencies and contradictions in a candidate's message. Now, the rise of fact-checking organizations has intensified scrutiny of politicians' remarks even further.

Four of them, National Public Radio, Fact Check.org, PolitiFact, and the Associated Press, examined Donald Trump's recent, widely-publicized immigration speech (Aug. 31, 2016) and found it filled with misstatements, exaggerations, and fabrications..

A summary of the errors found by the four fact-checking groups appears below.

National Public Radio (NPR) - August 31, 2016.

Trump statement: "For instance we have to listen to the concerns of working people - our forgotten working people - have over the record pace of immigration . . .

Fact check: "Trump lamented the 'record pace' of immigration, but between 2009 and 2014, the U.S. has actually seen more Mexican immigrants LEAVING the U.S. than coming in, a net loss of 140,000 immigrants -Domenico Montanaro"

Trump statement: "Number one. Are you ready? We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall , 100 percent."

Fact check: "Trump told reporters after meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieta in Mexico City that they had discussed the wall but not who would pay for it. Pena Nieto says he made it clear Mexico will not pay, and Mexico's foreign minister says this position is nonnegotiable - Sarah McCammon ."

Trump statement: "We have no idea who (the immigrants) are, where they come from, there's no documentation, there's no paperwork. It's going to end badly folks, it's going to end very, very badly."

Fact check: "Trump claimed there's no 'paperwork.' But that's not true. Lots is known about them. and they already undergo rigorous screening. NPR's Brian Naylor has reported 'that refugees are currently screened by several different agencies, and 'fingerprints are taken, biographical information is collected. They are then individually interviewed by U.S. officials trained to verify that they are bona fide refugees. Refugees from Syria are then subject to additional screening that looks at where they came from and what caused them to flee their home.' And all that takes an average of a year and a half to two years."

Associated Press Fact Check - Sept. 1, 2016

Trump statement: "President Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in gross dereliction of duty by surrendering the safety of the American people to open borders."

Fact check: "Trump actually praised President Barack Obama in the past for deporting an unprecedented number of people during his first term, a record that does not square with an accusation of supporting an 'open border'

Obama increased Border Patrol staffing to an all-time high of 21,444 agents in 2011 and his administration has virtually ended the practice of 'voluntary returns.' or turning back Mexicans without any consequences."

FactCheck.org - Sept. 1, 2016

"Trump said that 13,000 'criminal aliens' were released from federal custody 'on Hillary Clinton's watch' as secretary of state. But their release was forced by a 2001 Supreme Court decision, and carried out by another federal agency, not the State Department."

"Trump claimed that immigrants living in the country illegally 'in many cases' are 'treated better than our vets.' We realize how well one group is treated compared with another is a matter of opinion, but immigrants in the U.S. illegally are largely barred from receiving benefits or participating in government programs, with few exceptions.

"They can't get Social Security or enroll in government health programs such as Medicaid or Medicare. They don't qualify for food stamps, government housing, or unemployment benefits, and they can't vote."

PolitiFact - Sept. 1, 2016

Trump statement: "You know this, this is what they talk about, facing American society today is that there are 11 million illegal immigrants who don't have legal status. And, they also think the biggest thing, and you know this, it's not nuclear , and it's not ISIS, it's not Russia, it's not China. It's global warming."

Fact check: "PolitiFact has examined similar claims about Obama before, rating them Mostly False. Obama has said that climate change is a great threat to the world, but has said repeatedly fighting terrorism is his most urgent priority. In March, after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Obama said, 'I've got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL.'"

The information presented here is a selective sampling of a much larger body of erroneous information contained in Trump's immigration speech that was flagged as in error by the various fact-checking groups. Space limitations prevent inclusion of it all in this blog.

The great irony, of course, is that Trump makes a point of calling Hillary Clinton ("Lyin Hillary) or Ted Cruz ("Lyin Ted") or other politicians liars when he, as shown here, is the one who plays fast and loose with the truth.

Gary Patton is the author of two books, Selling Mt. Washington, a political satire, and Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire, a work of regional humor.