For the past several months, one of the go-to topics on the national political talk shows has been border security and illegal immigration.  One outspoken elected official who has to deal with illegal immigration into his state is Texas Governor Rick Perry (R).  Governor Perry has made the rounds on the talk show circuit saying that more resources are needed to secure the borders.

During a recent nationally-televised interview, Perry had the following to say about the makeup of the people who were coming across the border into the United States:

"I'm the governor of the state of Texas. My citizens' safety is what is foremost here. And it hasn't got anything to do with anything other than those numbers of individuals who are coming across the border. And when you think about the idea that some of them are from countries that have substantial terrorist ties, whether it's Pakistan or Afghanistan or Syria, we are at historic record highs with individuals being apprehended from those countries."

Our partners at PolitiFact decided to research Perry's claim about record numbers of individuals coming to the U.S. from countries with terrorist ties.  PolitiFact reporter Linda Qiu says that Perry's claim rates PANTS ON FIRE on the Truth-O-Meter.  Qiu says that the numbers just don't add up in Perry's favor.

"We took a look at data compiled by the Department of Homeland Security for the last ten years," said Qiu.  "What we found was that 2012 was actually the lowest in terms of number of people trying to illegally enter the U.S. from Pakistan and Syria.  Illegal immigrants from Afghanistan also were lower in 2012 than in the previous year, but it was not at a record low."

Qiu also mentioned that the numbers of illegal immigrants from any country with terrorist ties combined is still dwarfed by the number of Mexicans and other Central Americans trying to get across the border.  "We checked the 2012 data, and found that nearly 450,000 Mexicans were stopped at the border, as well as 55,000 Guatemalans and 50,000 Hondurans," said Qiu.  "When you compare those numbers that are clearly in the thousands, the numbers from countries like Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan are very, very small."

Qiu notes that another immigration fact puts a chink in the armor of Gov. Perry's claim:  more people coming from countries with terrorist ties are generally stopped at airports while trying to enter the United States.  According to Qiu, the numbers show they aren't trying to cross any land borders.

Because the numbers directly contradict Perry's claim of "historic highs," PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter rates his claim PANTS ON FIRE.

 

SOURCES: Illegal immigrants with terrorist ties?