Keeping with the immigration theme from the last few entries, the winner for Spin of the Week gets the nod for declaring another already-proven-false claim perpetuated by the Obama administration: “the vast majority” of immigrant minors who crossed the border illegally will be deported.
Here’s the full statement:
We do want the children to get expedited, and we gave [Obama] many suggestions within the confines of the law so that those children can get inside a courtroom. They're going to be deported. The vast majority do not have an asylum case. We know that. Let's just be clear. I don't want any more of them coming to this fate. They are in the process of removal as we speak. They will lose their asylum cases.
The speaker: Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Spin of the Week winner for a second week in a row, who made the comments to RCP Wednesday.
The problem with Gutierrez’/the administration’s claim of course is that it is already verifiably untrue. So far 65% of immigrants’ requests for asylum this year have been accepted in the initial stage, with many of the third that were not accepted being likely to appeal the initial ruling—in other words, that acceptance percentage will only increase. The Washington Times reports:
According to the Judiciary Committee’s numbers, 65 percent of unaccompanied children’s asylum applications are approved by the initial asylum officer so far in 2014. Even those who are refused can ask for an appeal, which means the total number who end up staying, with government permission, is likely to be higher.
That figure doesn’t include the others who never apply for asylum and try to disappear into the shadows, or who spend years in the country awaiting court dates.
Rep. Gutierrez won the Spin of the Week Award last week too with his repeated accusation that Republicans were “creating fear of children” in their calls for the end of the 2008 Anti Human Trafficking Act, which is currently slowing down deportations and providing asylum for immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Other Democratic leaders are following Gutierrez’ lead on opposing the repeal of the act. Nancy Pelosi at first expressed support for altering the law, but after a good talking to from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, has now changed her tune to align with Gutierrez and company.
Away from the cameras, President Obama has promised Gutierrez and the Hispanic Caucus that his use of executive actions will be “as great and big and bold as he can be” later this year to reduce deportations even more.
