Fact-Check On Obama's Speech Determines... Well, He Did Produce a Birth Certificate, So There Is That

Slim pickings past that, though, as Jake Tapper notes Obama basically gets two facts right:

1. There is a country called "Mexico," and

2. It has a border.

Well, it's not the actual facts, it's just that they are deployed to be so misleading as to border on truth. He claims the "border fence" is "almost" complete, which might suggest, to the ignorant, that we almost have a fence all the way across our border. Not even close. He means the tiny amount of fence mandated by Congress has almost been built... and that covers about 650 miles of our nearly 2000 mile border with Mexico.

So, done and done!

He also claims we've doubled our border patrol "since 2004." Well, okay, but what's this "we" business, Obama?

Even allowing him to date his build up from the middle of the Bush presidency -- he has only increased border agents about 15% on the southern border.

Yes, we have added thousands and thousands of border agents... to guard the Canadian border.

As of April 9, 2011, there were 20,745 Border Patrol agents nationwide – an increase of approximately 3,246 since President Obama took office.

And what about those agents on the US-Mexican border? Surely that’s what many in the audience thought the president was talking about as he stood on the border and talked about border agents – not those in Buffalo, NY.

As of October 2008, there were 15,442 Border Patrol agents at the Southwest border. There are currently 17,659 Border Patrol Agents between the more than 160 ports of entry on the Southwest border.

That’s an increase of 2,217 Border Patrol agents on the Southwest border in two years.

The administration has made it a goal to have 18,000 Border Patrol agents at the Southwest border by October 2011.

We need border agents for other purposes besides the Mexican border, but to speak of those agents achieving other purposes in the context of a speech about immigration from Mexico and parts south is deliberately misleading.

Thanks to DrewM.

posted by Ace at 07:04 PM

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