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A Border Patrol agent at the fence along the border between the United States and Mexico on the outskirts of Nogales, Ariz., on Sept. 22, 2016. (Tomas Munita/New York Times)

Need an example of a border wall that works? Look to Israel, President Donald Trump has repeatedly said.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., echoed the idea during a Feb. 3 CNN interview, claiming that a border fence in Israel has drastically cut illegal immigration along its southern border.

"Israel ... had a real problem with illegal immigrants coming in from the southern border, about 16,000 in one year. In two years, they constructed 143-mile fence, about $2.9 million per mile, and it cut that illegal immigration rate from about 16,000 to I think 18. Cut it by 99 percent," Johnson said.

The United States needs to pay attention to Israel and how it has handled security issues, Johnson said.

"They are under a constant state of threat. Threat of terrorism. They've dealt with it pretty effectively. We need to learn those lessons," Johnson added.

Since Trump has signed an executive order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, we were curious about references to Israels border efforts and their success, as described by Johnson.

Heres what we found.

Israel-Egypt border fence

Israel has built multiple barriers along its borders with Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza Strip and West Bank, all as safeguards against terrorism and illegal immigration.

In 2015, we looked into a claim from another Wisconsin official, Gov. Scott Walker, when he said that a 500-mile fence between Israel and the West Bank was to thank for a 90 percent reduction in terrorist attacks in Israel. Experts then told us that even though there had been a drop in terrorism, the data used for Walkers analysis was outdated and the fence was only one reason for the decline.

Johnson was specifically talking about a fence along the Israeli-Egyptian border.

Johnsons team referred us to a January 2013 article in the Jerusalem Post about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touring a completed 143-mile fence along the Sinai border. The article noted that an additional 8 miles of fencing was still to be completed along mountainous terrain near Eilat. When fully completed, the fence would run from Kerem Shalom (where Sinai and Israel meet the Gaza Strip) to Taba on the Red Sea, according to the article.

Fence construction started in November 2010 and came with a price tag of 1.6 billion Israeli shekels, the Jerusalem Post reported. The senator's office saidan Israeli official told Johnson that the fence cost $415 million during a tour while Johnson was in Israel. (The Wall Street Journal in January 2013 pegged the fences cost at $416 million.)

To determine a $2.9 million cost per mile, Johnson divided $415 million into the 143 completed miles cited in the 2013 article. (The cost per mile goes down to about $2.7 million when factoring in the total project of about 150 miles.)

So Johnson appears largely correct about the cost of the wall. How about its success in keeping people trying to cross the border illegally out?

That number checks out, too.

This month, Johnson, who chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, released a report titled "Securing Israel: Lessons learned from a nation under constant threat of attack." The report came after a trip Johnson made to Israel where he met the Israeli prime minister and other security officials.

The report notes that the number of people illegally crossing the Israel-Egypt border was more than 16,000 in 2011 and less than 20 in 2016, a 99 percent decrease.

Netanyahu recently touted his countrys southern barrier and gave a nod to Trump, tweeting on Jan. 28, "President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea."

Experts we reached out to agree that illegal immigration along Egypts southern border has indeed significantly dropped in the years after the fence was built and that Johnson's assessment of its costs and timeframe are sound.

However, they warn against generalizing that the fence is the sole reason for the drop and raise objections in comparing Israels border issues to those in the United States.

The success of barriers such as a wall or fence depend on their scale and how heavily guarded they are, said Reece Jones, a political geography professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and who has written about money spent on border security projects and their consequences.

On a small scale and with many guards, walls can effectively stop movement, Jones said.

But Israel and the United States southern borders are significantly different.

The Israel-Egypt border fence is about 150 miles.

The U.S.-Mexico border is nearly 2,000 miles.

Terrain conditions and number of agents needed to monitor the border are not comparable either, Jones said.

"Most of the Israeli fence goes through open, arid terrain. Easy to access, easy to build, easy to monitor with agents," Jones said.

The U.S.-Mexico border, on the other hand, includes very remote, mountainous terrain and spans the length of four states with cities closely intertwined with Mexico. Trump has said that border has 1 million legal border crossings daily, which experts have told us include people traveling back and forth for school, work and shopping.

Investment in high-tech features such as drones, robots and sensors is also crucial for border security, not just fences, added Elisabeth Vallet, who leads a research team on border walls and is Raoul-Dandurand Chair at the University of Quebec at Montreal.

Without those features, people may still go undetected or go around through another border. If illegal entries surge at another border point, then the effectiveness of the fence at one border comes into question, Vallet said.

"While the numbers show a dramatic decrease in the number of entries, the amount of credit attributed to the fence is an issue of serious debate in Israel," said Yonatan Jakubowicz, director of research and public relations at the Israeli Immigration Policy Center, an NGO in Israel.

Some were skeptical about the fences effectiveness when the idea was introduced in 2009, but the barrier received wider support after a terrorist attack on the border road in August 2011, Jakubowicz said.

He also said that aside from the fence, additional policies have reduced illegal immigration.

The number of illegal border crossings decreased drastically "in an extremely short time" after the implementation of an "Anti-Infiltration Law" in mid 2012, Jakubowicz said.

Under the law, individuals caught illegally entering Israel could be detained for up to three years, Jakubowicz said. The number of people illegally crossing Israels southern border decreased after the law came into effect, even though the fence was not fully completed, he said.

"The fact that people continued to arrive even after the total completion of the fence, with fluctuations, proves that a barrier makes illegal migration more difficult, but not impossible," Jakubowicz said. "Personal interviews and close inspection of migrant diaspora news outlets show that the combination of the fence and the immigration policies are to be attributed to these numbers, and not the fence alone."

Our ruling

Johnson said Israel cut its illegal immigration rate by "99 percent" by constructing a 143-mile fence along its southern border.

Israeli government data support Johnsons statement. However, experts say the fence alone is not responsible for the dramatic decrease in illegal immigration, policies have also deterred illegal border crossings. Border security experts also caution about comparing Israel and the United States southern borders -- the U.S.-Mexico border is much longer than the Israel-Egypt border, terrain conditions are different and more agents would be needed to monitor the U.S. border.

Johnsons statement is accurate, but needs additional information. We rate it Mostly True.

Read the original:
Border fence in Israel cut illegal immigration by 99 percent, GOP senator says - PolitiFact

Critics of illegal immigration say the handing out the leaflets may not be providing the best advice or telling the whole story. (WTOP/Dick Uliano)

WASHINGTON Leaflets in several different languages are turning up in the D.C.s Maryland and Virginia suburbs advising people Do Not Open Doors for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers; Remain Silent and take notes of badge numbers.

The activist group United We Dream says it has teamed with other social justice groups to distribute the leaflets in Montgomery and Fairfax counties.

Were not asking people to evade law enforcement, were teaching them their rights, said Ambar Pinto, who manages United We Dreams nationwide deportation defense hotline.

The group says the leaflet distribution is needed because ICE has stepped up enforcement nationwide and in the national capital area.

People are coming at 5 in the morning or in the middle of night in your house with guns asking everybody for ID and fingerprints, that is rogue, Pinto said.

A statement released Monday by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said recent ICE enforcement actions targeted public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nations immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.

But Pinto says the multi-language fliers are meant to hold families together.

What we are talking about, these people, we need to keep in mind these are our mothers, our fathers; these are workers, someones brother or sister, Pinto said.

Critics of illegal immigration say the handing out the leaflets may not be providing the best advice or telling the whole story.

Resistance is not always the best way to handle this, said Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. It may cause them to get in more trouble than before.

Vaughn says failure to cooperate with ICE officers at home might produce enforcement action in a public spot or at a persons workplace.

The activist group says it will continue to hand out leaflets throughout the D.C. area to help people who are living in the United States illegal defend against enforcement.

These fliers are to let people know their rights they should use them to protect their families, to protect themselves, to protect anyone around them, Pinto said.

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Original post:
Leaflets advise local illegal immigrants to 'not open doors' for ICE - WTOP

I believe that a majority of Americans fully endorse legal immigration. They genuinely want to see immigrants succeed in creating a better opportunity for themselves and their families here. But they are not in favor of open borders. They believe that immigration is a compromise. Foreigners, especially those fleeing oppression, are welcome here, but only if they choose to contribute to their communities, respect the rights of Americans, and follow the law.

In his quest for national recognition, Mayor Martin Walsh seems to have forgotten that were a nation of laws first and a nation of immigrants second (Walsh on the national stage, Yvonne Abraham, Metro, Feb. 12). Those who break the law cannot be expected to have citizenship handed to them. Theres a legal path to US citizenship, and Walsh and others are encouraging immigrants to circumvent it.

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Walsh, the son of immigrants, made a better life for himself by working hard and making a contribution. But now that hes entrenched, defending the city as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, he needs to take a broader view. He can start by acknowledging that naturalization is a legal process, not a right. The tired, the poor, and the huddled masses are welcome here, but idleness, fanaticism, and recalcitrance have never been acceptable in America, nor should they be.

Sean F. Flaherty

Charlestown

See the article here:
Mayor needs to take broader view of our concerns over illegal immigration - The Boston Globe

Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) is urging President Trump to take actions to prevent immigrants in the country illegally from claiming the child tax credit.

Most Americans are astonished to learn that each year billions of taxpayer dollars are given out to people who are in our country illegally, Messer said in a news release.This is just one example of how our broken tax and immigration systems continue to incentivize immigrants to come here illegally. Its long past time to change it.

The request from Messer a member of the House GOP leadership team who is eyeing a Senate runin 2018 comes as Trump has made tax reform and curbing illegal immigration two of his top priorities. Trump has already issued executive orders to direct federal agencies to start work on a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to strengthen immigration enforcement.

Under current law, taxpayers do not have to have Social Security numbers to claim the credit on their returns, though they can only claim the credit for dependents who are U.S. citizens, nationals and alien residents. A 2011 report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that people who weren't authorized to work in the United States were paid $4.2 billion in refundable child tax credits during the 2010 tax-processing year.

Messer has introduced legislation that would bar taxpayers who don't have Social Security numbers from claiming the child tax credit. In a letter sent to Trump on Saturday, he asked Trump to take executive actions to prevent undocumented immigrants from getting the credits while Congress works on passing his bill.

Messer asked Trump to take steps to bar the IRS from allowing individuals without Social Security numbers that are valid for employment from claiming the credit. He also asked Trump to have the Office of Management and Budget designate the credit "as a high priority program to subject the program to greater levels of oversight and review in an attempt to reduce the volume of improper payments made by the program."

Last year, the House Ways and Means Committee approved on a party-line vote legislation to require Social Security numbers for taxpayers claiming the refundable child tax credit. Democrats opposed the measure, saying that the bill would hurt 3 million children, most of whom are citizens with undocumented parents.

Read more:
GOP rep urges Trump to prevent illegal immigrants from claiming tax credits - The Hill

RICHMOND Virginias jails and prisons would hold inmates up to two days beyond their sentences to give federal immigration officials time to pick them up, under a bill that narrowly passed the state Senate on Monday.

The measure is part of a flurry of GOP-backed legislation making its way through Virginias General Assembly this year that is meant to crack down on illegal immigration. That bill and several others seem destined to land on the desk of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who has vowed to veto them.

As immigration roils national politics, the issue has moved to the front burner in Richmond, with Democrats and Republicans coming up with a raft of legislation. All of it, however, seems doomed. The GOP-controlled House and Senate have killed the immigrant-friendly bills Democrats proposed. But the Republicans do not have the strength in the closely divided Senate to override McAuliffes vetoes.

The Governor will veto this bill and any others that force localities to play a role in immigration enforcement that should be performed by the federal government, McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said in an email.

The bill that passed the Senate on Monday, on a 21-19 party-line vote, applies only to illegal immigrants who have been sentenced to jail or prison time in Virginia for crimes committed in the United States. The facilities would have to hold the prisoners for up to two days beyond their sentences. If federal immigration officials do not pick up the prisoners in that time, they are released.

Im not for sweeping people off the streets, said Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who sponsored the bill. Because the Senate made a minor amendment, the legislation returns to the House, which passed it earlier but now must accept or reject the change. Marshall expects the House to accept the amendment and send the bill to McAuliffe by the end of the week.

Another House bill, which has cleared that chamber and is moving through the Senate, would prohibit Virginia cities and towns from adopting sanctuary-city ordinances that restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Proposed by Del. Charles D. Poindexter (R-Franklin), the original bill also would have prohibited localities from hiring public contractors that do not verify the immigration status of their workers. That element was scrapped before the measure moved to the Senate.

The Senate has passed a bill from Sen. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun) that would hold sanctuary cities liable for injuries to people or property caused by illegal immigrants in that community. The legislation is in the House.

Not all of the Republicans immigration measures advanced this year. A House committee scrapped another Poindexter bill that would have required public colleges and universities to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement. Also killed was a measure from Del. Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge)that would have prohibited the creation of sanctuary cites and withheld state funding to localities that violate the ban.

One still-viable Republican proposal is meant to assist some immigrants. A bill from Del. Ron A. Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach) would allow a narrow class of foreign nationals to obtain temporary drivers licenses. It would apply to people authorized by a federal court or federal agency to be in the United States.

McAuliffes stance on that legislation is not clear; Coy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several Democrats had proposed more sweeping legislation related to illegal immigrants and drivers licenses. They included a measure to provide temporary licenses to those deemed by a federal immigration judge likely to be persecuted if returned to their home countries. Another would have granted a one-year license to those who have established residency, filed income tax returns, registered with the Department of Homeland Security and provided proof of insurance. All were rejected.

Also killed was a measure from Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax) that would have added immigration status to the definition of hate crimes, which is currently limited to offenses motivated by race, religious conviction, color, and national origin.

Marshalls bill on prisoners set off a contentious debate in the Senate. Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-Rockingham) accused Democrats of misrepresenting a simple law-and-order bill, causing alarm in immigrant communities and portraying Republicans as heartless, hateful people.

This is a political dispute, and I guess many on the political left have an interest in fanning those flames, he said. Pretty sad.

Sen. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said the measure would burden localities with the cost of holding prisoners longer than necessary. He also said it would intensify the fear already heightened by recent federal immigration raids, which may or may not be the result of tougher enforcement under President Trump. (The White House and federal immigration officials have given conflicting accounts about whether the raids reflect a policy shift.)

[AP Fact Check: Are immigration raids result of Trump policy?]

Amid fears that Trump is leading a crackdown, Surovell said attendance at his weekend town hall meeting swelled to 200 from the usual 50.

A third of my town hall was dominated by ... families freaked out by the federal government terrorizing my neighborhood, he said. I dont think we should aid and abet the federal government not doing its job.

Go here to see the original:
Illegal immigrants would do overtime in Va. jails under bill to boost deportations - Washington Post