The latest establishment attempt to support illegal immigration and undercut those who want stronger border enforcement comes from Martha Mendoza of the Associated Press. The original AP title is "AP Impact: US-Mexico border isn't so dangerous" [1] and it's based on statistics contained in a new FBI report [2] and on data they received via a FOIA request from Customs and Border Protection (CBP):

It's one of the safest parts of America, and it's getting safer.

It's the U.S.-Mexico border, and even as politicians say more federal troops are needed to fight rising violence, government data obtained by The Associated Press show it actually isn't so dangerous after all.

The top four big cities in America with the lowest rates of violent crime are all in border states: San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin, according to a new FBI report. And an in-house Customs and Border Protection report shows that Border Patrol agents face far less danger than street cops in most U.S. cities.

1. Its about 236 miles from Austin to the nearest major Mexican city (Nuevo Laredo). San Antonio is closer to the border, and it's a larger city. Considering that their crime rates are about the same [2] it's unclear why she used Austin. However, both cities aren't really in the border area, unless you have a Washington DC mindset. Phoenix is also not on the border. Unfortunately, the FBI statistics only show larger cities, and the only larger cities that are right on the border are El Paso and San Diego. It's misleading to pretend that statistics for a college, high-tech, and administration center like Austin that's hours from the border is representative of border crime.

2. The violent crime rate for Phoenix is 0.5% per capita, but that for Tucson is 0.65% per capita. The latter city is closer to the border but still not on the border.

3. Those who enter illegally over the border won't necessarily stay there: most will move to other cities and will have an impact on those cities' crime rates. Mendoza's article doesn't mention that.

4. Violent crime only tells part of the story. See all of the entries on the immigration terrorism page. And, just as pernicious is the possibility that local officials have been corrupted into allowing drug or human smuggling.

5. Crimes against illegal aliens stand a lesser chance of being reported than crimes against others; such crimes won't appear in the statistics.

6. The article contains "I have to say, a lot of this is way overblown," said Gary Brasher of Tuboc, Arizona, who is president of the Coalition for a Safe and Secure Border. From their site [3], make of it what you will:

[A permanent checkpoint on the I-19 corridor between Nogales and Tucson] is essentially a monument to over 3 decades of this obviously flawed strategy that will be circumvented by smugglers. This will inevitably result in illegal and violent activities moving into our neighborhoods along the I-19 corridor... It is also important to note that it is not the intent of the CSSB or this blog to criticize the service of the men and women serving in the Border Patrol. In fact, many residents in this area have been victims of crime perpetrated by smugglers and the Border Patrol has often been the first responders.

7. The article contains:

"Politicians are hyping up this incredible fear across the country about the border, but these numbers show these are lies being perpetrated on the American public," said immigrant advocate Isabel Garcia at Tucson-based Derechos Humanos. "The warnings about violence are just an excuse to crack down on migrants who want to work and be with their families."

Read about her at the links.

[1] news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/SE/20100603/NEWS/6030350

[2] www.fbi.gov/ucr/prelimsem2009/index.html

[3] secureborder.blogspot.com/2007/07/
citizens-for-safe-secure-border.html