Nothing that President Obama does will please the GOP. You would think that the number of deportations, done by his administration, would make them happy - particularly after the president of La Raza, an immigration activist organization loathed by the anti-immigration right wing, referred to Obama as the "deporter-in-chief." But rather than credit the President with pursuing all those brown people who are "invading" our country, the anti-immigration is claiming that the deportation numbers don't count because of where the deportations are taking place. So it's no surprise that Fox News, which never wastes an opportunity to smear the President and play the fear of "illegals" card, is advancing this newest claim. This morning, Brian Kilmeade hosted the anti-immigration Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, for more smears and fear.
Standing before a graphic of a large statue of liberty beside the words "defending the homeland" (isn't Lady Liberty all about welcoming the "huddled masses?") Brian Kilmeade, who buys into the anti-immigration "anchor baby" meme, immediately framed the propaganda message: "After admitting to fudging the numbers on deportation, the Obama administration now wants to reduce the deportation of illegals by letting criminals stay?"
Fact Check - HHS Secretary Jeh Johnson recently said that "a very large fraction" of last year's deportations were apprehensions near the border - but according to Kilmeade this is an admission of "fudging." And contrary to Kilmeade's statement about "letting criminals stay," the administration has "prioritized" removal of criminal aliens.
He introduced Kobach who is an attorney for a white nationalist group and who helped create the anti-immigration laws in Alabama and Arizona. Kobach, a member of a party that has no problem with outsourcing and persistently low wages, asserted that these changes in immigration policy are bad for the American worker who won't be able to compete with these "illegal aliens." While sporting a great big grin, Kobach claimed that the president has ordered ICE agents to "break federal law" and is, as such, "refusing to enforce the law" - despite the FACT that since taking office, Obama has deported 1,582,756.
Fact Check - The only change that is happening is that the administration "will no longer actively seek to deport illegal immigrants who don’t have criminal records and that it will review all existing deportation cases involving non-criminal immigrants on a case-by-case basis."
An agitated Kilmeade claimed that, despite the actual numbers of deportations, Obama was "using the wrong numbers." The Cavuto marked chyron reinforced the propaganda: "Cooking the Books, DHS Reveals Truth About Deportation Numbers." Kobach, on script, responded - wait for it - "He was cooking the books." Still grinning, he explained what the administration was doing to supposedly cook the books. Kobach's claim, that the lower number for 2012 (324,000), was "one of the lowest numbers in the last two decades," is wrong because the George W Bush administration deported an average of 251,567 a year which was higher than the previous two administrations. He complained about the new policy in which "nobody gets deported unless you've committed a violent felony" which is "outrageous."
Kilmeade sneered as he quipped "don't worry it's supervised release, we'll look after them." As the agitprop chyron read "A Numbers Game," Kobach added "there's no supervision." Kobach brayed about how the GOP is right in not passing "amnesty" (the Senate immigration bill is NOT amnesty) because Obama won't enforce immigration law. Kilmeade added that "maybe the Senate Republicans were wrong going along with it."
Brian Kilmeade, on Fox News, is accusing the Obama administration of "fudging?" Oh, the irony!