The White House is standing by a statement on its website claiming that border security is at its strongest in history even in the face of a spiraling border crisis in Texas.
Under the heading âborder securityâ on the White House website's section on President Obama's immigration proposal, the whitehouse.gov website gives the president credit for having "doubled the number of Border Patrol agents," saying "today border security is stronger than it ever has been."
The White House says the statement is true despite the estimated 52,000 unattended children who have crossed the southwest border so far this year and the roughly 90,000 expected by fall.
âLooking at the overall picture of the border, the Border Patrol is better staffed today than at any time in history,â White House deputy press secretary Shawn Turner told the Washington Examiner.
âWe've doubled the number of agents nationwide ... more agents providing more eyes across the border. If you look at the boots on the ground on the Southwest border, there's been a 95 percent increase since 2004.â
Critics argue that the first part of the White House website statement â that Obama is responsible for doubling the number of Border Patrol agents â is inaccurate because President George W. Bush is responsible for the majority of the sharp increase in border patrol agents over the last 10 years.
There are a total of 20,979 Border Patrol agents right now â not all of whom are deployed to the border, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. In 2008, the last year of Bush's presidency, there were 17,499 Border Patrol agents.
But the second part of the claim â that border security is stronger than ever â is fomenting a pitched debate with advocates for stronger border security arguing the claim is laughable in light of the current crisis and Obama supporters pointing to a slew of statistics they say backs it up.
âThe White House continues to insist the border is secure in the midst of a massive humanitarian crisis -- what planet are they living on?â said Michael Steel, spokesman for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Still, Latino advocacy groups have complained about the record number of deportations of illegal immigrants under Obama's watch, with the National Council of La Raza labeling him the "deporter in chief" earlier this year as they pushed him to dial it back.
Others say Obama is falsely boosting his deportation numbers.
David Stoddard, a founding member of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers who served as a border patrol agent for 27 years, argues that the Obama administration is using formal deportation proceedings for all illegal immigrants apprehended while previous presidents would catch immigrants trying to cross the border illegally and allow them to return to Mexico without a hearing from a deportation judge, what is known as a âvoluntary return.â
http://washingtonexaminer.com/white...ecurity-is-stronger-than-ever/article/2550730
