Cards

Rhetoric vs. reality on the border

Statements made by the Trump administration don't always match the facts on the ground at the U.S./Mexico border. Can you tell when they do or don't? Flip through these cards to see. On the front of each card is “What’s said.” Click on the card to flip it over and find “What’s fact.”

To see supporting details and documentation, click on the phrases underneath each card.

What's said

A border wall would stop the opioid crisis

What's fact

81 percent of hard drugs seized are caught at legal ports of entry

What's said

A border wall would end illegal immigration

What's fact

40 percent of illegal immigrants in the U.S. crossed legally, overstayed visas

What's said

“See-through” fence needed so people can dodge sacks of drugs thrown over it

What's fact

It's not common, but smugglers have launched marijuana bundles over the fence

What's said

Illegal border crossings dropped when President Trump took office

What's fact

Border Patrol arrests did plunge post-election, but had been dropping steadily since 2000

What's said

The Trump administration will deport “bad hombres” before regular people

What's fact

ICE told agents to arrest anyone without legal status, including those with no criminal history

What's said

Trade deals hurt U.S. economy while helping insiders, D.C. elites

What's fact

NAFTA benefits Arizona, where 257,000 jobs depend on trade with Mexico and Canada

What's said

Family members of “countless innocent Americans” were killed by illegal immigrants

What's fact

With few exceptions, immigrants are less crime prone than natives or have no effect on crime rates

What's said

Trump executive orders led to a 40 percent rise in ICE arrests over 2016

What's fact

While ICE officers made more arrests, deportations are down

What's said

President Trump wants to hire 10,000 ICE officers and 5,000 Border Patrol agents

What's fact

Meeting that hiring goal would take a pool of more than 1 million applicants