As we work toward immigration reform, the Administration will continue to look for ways to improve our legal immigration system, secure the borders, and enhance our enforcement strategy so that it is smarter and more effective at removing criminals and prosecuting unscrupulous employers. But enforcement alone will not solve our immigration problem. We need reform that affirms our history as both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants -- and to do that, we need to work together to pass legislation. [WhiteHouse.gov, 4/20/11]

Fox “Straight News” Program America Live Uses WH Meeting To Fearmonger About Undocumented Immigrants Crossing U.S.-Mexico Border

Fox's MacCallum To Arizona Rancher: “Do You Feel Like You're Surrounded?” During the April 19 edition of America Live, Martha MacCallum repeatedly asked Arizona rancher Jim Chilton leading questions about whether the Obama administration was really securing the border. At one point, MacCallum asked Chilton whether he believed Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's claim “that the border is safer than it's been in a long time.” MacCallum later asked Chilton: “Do you feel like you're surrounded?”

From the April 19 edition of Fox News' America Live:

MacCALLUM: You hear from Janet Napolitano -- she claims that the border is safer than it's been in a long time sir in terms of the resources that they've put down there. What do you say to her?

CHILTON: In ways it is safer particularly where they've put up walls near cities like El Paso and Nogales. It is safer there. But what's happened is that drug traffic, the cartels, the people smugglers have moved, in our case west. And it's much more organized now. The cartels now run everything I'm told by the border patrol. The cartels are the ones that bring people into the country as people smugglers and they are forcing them to bring drugs.

[...]

MacCALLUM: You know, it's just incredible to listen to the way that you live. You know, not only do you have people crossing over the border and you're worried about them robbing your house, but you're looking at a guy who's got binoculars who's up on your hill, and he's a spotter for these folks. Do you feel like you're surrounded?

CHILTON: Yes, we are. To the south of our house, seven scouts have been taken off of Rowita [ph] Peak. To the northwest of our house, only a mile-and-a-half away, a friend of mine chased some scouts off the top of the mountain, and they left AK 47 shells and a Smith & Wesson pistol. [Fox News, America Live, 4/19/11]

Fox Highlights Misleading “Fox Fact” That Border “Apprehensions Were Down 36% Over The Past 2 Years.” During the America Live segment with Chilton, Fox News aired a series of “Border Security Fox Facts,” including one that stated: “Apprehensions were down 36% over the past 2 years”:

[Fox News, America Live, 4/19/11]

In Fact, “The U.S.-Mexico Border Is More Fortified Now Than It Was Even Five Years Ago”

AP: “The U.S.-Mexico Border Is More Fortified Now Than It Was Even Five Years Ago.” A June 23, 2010 Associated Press article noted: “You wouldn't know it from the public debate, but the U.S.-Mexico border is more fortified now than it was even five years ago. Far more agents patrol it, more fences, barriers and technology protect it and taxpayers are spending billions more to reinforce it.” [Associated Press, 6/23/10]

There Are Currently More Border Patrol Agents “Than Ever Before In The History Of This Country.” The Obama administration has been increasing the number of Border Patrol officers on the southern border. During a July 2010 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol chief Michael Fisher stated: “Currently we have over 20,000 Border Patrol Agents nationwide, more than ever before in the history of the country.” [House Homeland Security Committee Hearing, 7/22/10]

Based on Department of Homeland Security data, The Arizona Republic created the following chart showing the increase in border patrol agents since 2001.

[The Arizona Republic, 5/26/10]

Obama Signed $600 Million Border Security Bill For More Border Patrol Agents And Customs Inspectors. On August 13, 2010, Obama signed a $600 million border security bill to “fund some 1,500 new border patrol agents, customs inspectors and other law enforcement officials along the border, as well as two more unmanned aerial 'drones' to monitor border activities.” [Reuters, 8/13/10]

Seizures Of Drugs, Weapons Along Border Have Increased. According to data reported by USA Today, border drug seizures have increased 16 percent. USA Today also reported that "[w]eapons seizures rose 28% and illicit-currency seizures were up 35% in fiscal 2009 and 2010." [USA Today, 2/9/11]

Deportations Have Increased Under Obama. According to data from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), nearly 100,000 more people were deported by ICE in both 2009 and 2010 than in 2007. [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accessed 2/14/11]

Deportations Of Convicted Criminals Are At Their Highest Levels. According to AZ Fact Check -- a project of The Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 12 News, and Arizona State University -- “ICE has removal numbers immediately available for only the past 10 fiscal years, and according to those figures, the most convicted criminals were indeed removed in fiscal 2010.” [AZ Fact Check, 2/9/11]

Illegal Immigration Fell In FY 2010 Due To “Economic Distress” And “Changes In The Level Of Immigration Enforcement.” In a study on the national and state trends of the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States, Pew Hispanic Center found that “economic distress” and “changes in the level of immigration enforcement” led to a decrease in the number of undocumented immigrants crossing into the United States. From Pew Hispanic Center:

The decline in the population of unauthorized immigrants from its peak in 2007 appears due mainly to a decrease in the number from Mexico, which went down to 6.5 million in 2010 from 7 million in 2007. Mexicans remain the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 58% of the total.

• The number of unauthorized immigrants decreased from 2007 to 2010 in Colorado, Florida, New York and Virginia. The combined population in three contiguous Mountain West states-Arizona, Nevada and Utah-also declined.

• In contrast to the national trend, the combined unauthorized immigrant population in three contiguous West South Central states-Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas-grew from 2007 to 2010.

• Although the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. is below 2007 levels, it has tripled since 1990, when it was 3.5 million and grown by a third since 2000, when it was 8.4 million.

The estimates are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, augmented with the Pew Hispanic Center's analysis of the demographic characteristics of the unauthorized immigrant population using a “residual estimation methodology.”

Although the estimates indicate trends in the size and composition of the unauthorized-immigrant population, they are not designed to answer the question of why these changes occurred. There are many possible factors. The deep recession that began in the U.S. economy officially ended in 2009, but recovery has been slow to take hold and unemployment remains high. Immigration flows have tended to decrease in previous periods of economic distress.

The period covered by this analysis also has been accompanied by changes in the level of immigration enforcement and in enforcement strategies, not only by the federal government but also at state and local levels. Immigration also is subject to pressure by demographic and economic conditions in sending countries. This analysis does not attempt to quantify the relative impact of these forces on levels of unauthorized immigration. [Pew Hispanic Center, 2/1/11]

Obama Administration Has Cracked Down On Employers That Knowingly Hire Illegal Immigrants. The Los Angeles Times reported on January 27:

Under Obama, cases against employers are up sharply: Immigration and Customs Enforcement quadrupled the number of employer audits after Obama took office, increasing the number of inspections and arrests against those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Businesses were fined $6.9 million in fiscal 2010, up from $675,000 in 2008. [Los Angeles Times, 1/27/11]