The Numbers Game

There is a saying that, "Figures don't lie but liars can figure!"

Statistics are often used to as a metric to establish the effectiveness of a program.  Statistics can provide an appearance of total objectivity and being fact-based when nothing could be further from the truth!

Of course statistics can be extremely useful to determine if a program is working effectively, but the problem is that there are many artful ways that statistics can mask reality.  If a student was having a problem with a class and to the consternation of his parents, was receiving failing grades in the exams he took in that class he might want to provide an overly optimistic impression of his progress.  Let's say he had received a grade of 30% on an exam and his parents, in reaction were appropriately upset.  He could be completely honest if he was to tell them that he had done twice as well on the subsequent test and hope that they would not do the math and realize that he had still gotten a failing grade (60%)!

Clearly the administration and just about all politicians understand that their constituents are truly upset with the continuing failures of our nation to enforce the immigration laws and secure our nation's borders.  Politicians who are desperate to create an immigration travesty known as "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" have taken to the tactic of saying that before we can have "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" our nation must first secure its borders.  (I have written many commentaries on why Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) should never be implemented as a blanket program and why there are so many other metrics that should be considered when determining whether or not our laws are really being enforced.) The politicians who want a massive amnesty program know that proving the "borders are secure" cannot be shown by direct evidence only by inference. They make the argument that if arrests by the Border Patrol are lower, that this should be viewed as evidence that fewer aliens are running our borders and hence our borders are more secure.

Of course, if the Border Patrol is ordered to protect portions of the border, especially those portions where aliens are not likely to attempt to run the border, and agents leave other areas wide open, the number of arrests will drop while more aliens will continue to flood across the border.

If Border Patrol agents are disciplined for various and sundry reasons and even criminally prosecuted for minor infractions or even fabricated infractions, when they do their jobs, their colleagues will quickly come to understand that their jobs are hazardous- not only because they may be injured or killed by the bad guys they are trying to arrest but by their own agency that places them in harm's way when they go on duty each day.

Please do not for a moment misunderstand what I am saying.  Any law enforcement officer will tell you that the badge they are given when they are sworn in not only provides them with the authority to do their sworn duties but to be accountable as well.  Law enforcement officers must be made accountable for their actions, but they must also be able to trust that they will be treated fairly and supported by the agencies that they work for.

When I was an INS Special Agent, we used to have a saying, "Big cases- big problems, little cases- little problems; no cases- no problems!"

Every time a law enforcement officer takes official action he (she) runs the risk of being physically injured by the criminals they encounter or attempt to arrest or of being falsely accused of doing something wrong by those same individuals.  Depending on how the agency they work for deals with allegations of wrongdoing and depending on the goal of the leadership of the law enforcement agency and the politicians who ultimately control those agencies, allegations of wrongdoing may be summarily dismissed or may result in the law enforcement officer being arrested and prosecuted simply to satisfy the whims of the political hierarchy.  Clearly it is not only fashionable but politically expedient, for allegations against those charged with securing our nation's borders to be hammered at every opportunity to discourage these beleaguered agents from doing their jobs!  Remember, if arrests are down, the argument can be made that the borders are more secure, just as Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of DHS (Department of Homeland Surrender) has repeatedly claimed in a succession of public appearances.

Most recently a U.S. Border Patrol agent by the name of Jesus E. Diaz, Jr. was arrested, successfully prosecuted and sentenced to serve a two year prison sentence for purportedly using excessive force against an illegal alien drug smuggler who was 15 years old, even though there was no physical evidence to substantiate that any actions taken by Agent Diaz were inappropriate, let alone criminal, in nature!

While it is politically expedient to show fewer arrests along our nation's southern border to "prove" the border is "secure," the illusion that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is effectively doing its job requires that statistics be provided that removals of illegal aliens have increased.

Of course the use of the term "Removal" rather than "Deportation" is extremely important.

Today the DHS does not even use the term deportation.  Any alien who is expelled from the United States is considered to have been removed.  This is an important point because an alien who has been formally ordered to leave the United States would have been declared to have been “deported” under the previously accepted nomenclature.  There is total clarity with this use of language.

Aliens who are provided with the option of agreeing to voluntarily depart the United States are not formally deported.

This is more than a mere legal or linguistic technicality.  An alien who has been sent out of the United States after being ordered deported from the United States by an Immigration Judge commits a felony by unlawfully reentering the United States without first securing the authority of the appropriate government agency in seeking to return to the United States.  For an alien who has no criminal convictions, such an unlawful reentry carries a maximum penalty of 2 years in custody.  An alien who has been convicted of certain crimes and felonies and then unlawfully reenters the United States without authority faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

An alien who agrees to depart the United States, generally at his (her) own expense, and then unlawfully reenters the United States is not committing a felony by reentering illegally but will be subject to removal as an illegal alien.

Clearly it is far easier to have an alien agree to depart from the United States voluntarily but there is a world of difference between these two scenarios.

The administration is obviously determined to create misleading illusions to convince the citizens of our nation that they are meeting public demands.

Lamar Smith, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has called the administration out on the issue of the statistics provided about the "removal" of aliens from our nation—making it clear that this administration cannot be trusted to carry out its responsibilities to actually secure our nation's borders and actually enforce the immigration laws that are supposed to protect our nation and our citizens from the presence of aliens who are harmful to the safety, security and wellbeing of our nation.

This administration is certainly not unique in using these tactics, but has made the most concerted effort in memory to obfuscate these issues.

Here is a link to a news report about the deceptive use of statistics where the removal of illegal aliens from the United States is concerned: http://libertynews.com/2011/10/19/ice-cooking-the-books/

Perhaps the time has come for the citizens of our nation to elect someone like David Copperfield for President!  Then, at least, we will have a professional illusionist in the Oval Office!