New DHS Office Will Perpetuate Trump’s Myths About Immigrants & Crime
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on President Trump’s joint address to Congress and his creation of an office using Department of Homeland Security resources to stoke xenophobic fears about immigrants and crime.
“It is clear from his address last night that President Trump is still fixated on spreading myths about immigrants and crime. When looking at actual statistics - facts rather than fearmongering - it is clear that the epidemic of immigrant crime he asserts simply does not exist. As a major component of Trump's nationalistic worldview, these falsehoods are too valuable to be abandoned, so the propaganda continues. Unfortunately, the Administration’s next step is to insert this propaganda into our nation’s homeland security policy. Instead of protecting our skies, waters, and borders from foreign and domestic threats, Department of Homeland Security resources are slated to be used for a new office to single out immigrants as criminals and broadcast its findings on repeat. Doing this not only ignores the vast majority of the crime in the United States, but stokes racist and xenophobic fears while dividing the country."
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