Session #115 · 2017–19

Speech #CREC-2017-03-22-pt1-PgS1900-6_t42

That means you have to work in close cooperation with the security agencies of Mexico, with the police, and with the intelligence agencies of Mexico. That cooperation requires a very close coordination between respected partners, and disrespecting the partners of Mexico is the best way to damage the ability to intercept drugs that are coming into the United States. We also know that the underlying premise of there being a flood of Mexican immigrants coming into our country is false. A 2015 study from the Pew Research Center found that between 2009 and 2014, there was a net outflow of 140,000 Mexican immigrants from the United States. They were migrating from the United States to Mexico, a net outflow. A more recent Pew Study determined that the number of undocumented Mexican immigrants in America has declined by more than 1 million since 2007. If you take the span during the Obama administration, there was an outflow, not an inflow--the exact opposite of the story line the President is presenting. What about those violent crimes being committed by undocumented criminals? The data does not support the President. In fact, the New York Times reported that ``several studies, over many years, have concluded that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States.'' Between 1980 and 2010, among men aged 18 to 49, immigrants were one-half to one-fifth as likely to be incarcerated as those born in the United States. When you look closer, the attacks on immigrants fall apart, as I have pointed out, but that is what authoritarian leaders do. They create a false enemy, and they use the perception of that enemy to generate hate and fear. They use that hate and fear to consolidate power.
Keywords matched
undocumented immigrants

Classification

Target group
Sentiment
Neutral
Stereotyping
No
Confidence
100%
Model
gemini-2.0-flash
Framing
Economic contributor Legal / procedural

Speaker & context

Speaker
JEFF MERKLEY
Party
D
Chamber
S
State
OR
Gender
—
Date
2017-03-22
Speech ID
CREC-2017-03-22-pt1-PgS1900-6_t42
Paragraph
#2
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