Sunday, May 02, 2010

AZ Gov. Jan Brewer: Arizona under 'terrorist attacks' in the form of illegal immigration.



Is there seriously nothing that these right wingers won't link to terrorism?

Kelly: Do you think that these folks who are all noticeably outside of your state, are the ones that I just ticked off, including the President, have an appreciation, governor, for what Arizona has been going through with respect to illegal immigration?

Brewer: Obviously not. You know Arizona has been under terrorist attacks, if you will, with all of this illegal immigration that has been taking place on our very porous border. ... The whole issue comes back, that we do not and will not tolerate illegal immigration bringing with it very much so the implications of crime and terrorism into our state.
And the figures don't back up the claims which she is making regarding crime:
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the violent crime rate in Arizona was lower in 2006, 2007, and 2008 -- the most recent year from which data are available -- than any year since 1983. The property crime rate in Arizona was lower in 2006, 2007, and 2008 than any year since 1968. In addition, in Arizona, the violent crime rate dropped from 577.9 per 100,000 population in 1998 to 447 per 100,000 population in 2008; the property crime rate dropped from 5,997 to 4,291 during the same period. During the same decade, Arizona's undocumented immigrant population grew rapidly.
That's not to say that illegal immigration isn't a problem, but the links which she is claiming between illegal immigration and crime/terrorism simply aren't evident in the numbers.

2 comments:

merlallen said...

the party of fear. they have nothing else at all

Kel said...

It really does feel as if that is all they have to offer.