Washington Post ‘fact checks’ Trump, complains stat on illegal immigrant arrests includes all crime

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Trump: Only reason government remains shutdown is because Democrats will not fund border security

President Trump delivers first Oval Office address, focusing on the need for border security.

The Washington Post offered a series of “fact checks” following President Trump’s primetime address from the Oval Office on border security.

But one of them raised eyebrows, as it complained the president’s crime stats were too comprehensive.

This was the line in question from the president, as he pushed for a border wall: “In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings. Over the years, thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country, and thousands more lives will be lost if we don't act right now.”

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The Washington Post tweeted in reference to the 266,000 arrests, “The number is right but misleading.”

In the paper’s analysis, the Post wrote, “it’s important to keep in mind that this figure includes all types of crimes, including nonviolent offenses such as illegal entry or reentry.”

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It then pointed to statistics that show 158,581 arrests in 2018 were for civil immigration violations – with 66 percent of those involving people with criminal convictions, and others involving those with pending criminal charges.

“So the numbers add up, but they’re misleading,” the Washington Post said. “ICE does not break down arrests by type of crime, but 16 percent of the total charges and convictions (not arrests) in 2016 were strictly immigration offenses.”

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The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway swiped at the analysis.

“I clicked on this and the reason why the fact checkers ding this Trump claim, which is true, ‘misleading’ is because, and I quote, ‘this figure includes all types of crimes,’” Hemingway tweeted.