During an appearance on Fox News’ The Five on Wednesday, Juan Williams rejected evidence that the Obama administration had cooked the books to appear as though deportations have increased during his tenure as president.
Despite his fellow co-hosts explaining that the Obama administration has changed the definition of deportation to include individuals who have been apprehended at the border and immediately sent home, Williams maintained that “there's no evidence that there's any net inflow at this moment and the borders are more secure than ever.”
The segment began with co-host Andrea Tantaros playing a clip of U.S. Border Agent Chris Cabrera’s testimony before Congress in which he refuted President Obama’s claim that our southern border was secure:
I want to be crystal clear, the border is not secure. Ask any line agent in the field and he or she will tell you that the best we apprehend is 30% to 40% of the illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the United States. This number is even lower for drug smugglers who are much more adept at eluding capture.
Later on, Eric Bolling pointed out how the Obama administration has manipulated deportation statistics to falsely claim that the border is secure:
When you look at this border agent telling you what's really going on. If they see a group of ten people, a border agent, and sees them coming across and they say stop, go back, they count those 10 as deportations. Those aren’t processed deportations. Our processed deportations are severely down. The ones they send back across the border are up and they're counting those.
Despite the data refuting President Obama’s claim, liberal Fox News contributor Juan Williams attempted to deflect from the issue:
Let me just read a quote to you, a quote tweeted earlier this week by our boss Rupert Murdoch, he says “Republicans are talking nonsense on strong borders where no net inflow for a long time.” This is Rupert Murdoch…I mean the reality is, I don't know if this is some political statement by this border agent, but I got to tell you something, there's no evidence that there's any net inflow at this moment and the borders are more secure than ever.
The rest of the panel appeared visually shocked at Williams’ assertion that “the borders are more secure than ever” despite significant evidence to refute his claim. Tantaros concluded the heated back-and-forth by telling Juan that “It will take a terrorist to slip through the border and then we’ll do something” about the influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border.
See relevant transcript below.
Fox News’ The Five
March 18, 2015
ANDREA TANTAROS: Well, has the Obama administration been manipulating border statistics to hide the true number of illegal immigrants entering the country? Here was the president in November.
BARACK OBAMA: Over the past six years, illegal border crossings have been cut by more than half. Overall, the number people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s. Those are the facts.
TANTAROS: Here's U.S. Border Agent Chris Cabrera testifying on the Hill yesterday.
CHRIS CABRERA: I want to be crystal clear, the border is not secure. Ask any line agent in the field and he or she will tell you that the best we apprehend is 30% to 40% of the illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the United States. This number is even lower for drug smugglers who are much more adept at eluding capture.
TANTAROS: Cabrera also told lawmakers his fellow agents face punishment if they report accurate numbers of illegal entries.
CABRERA: Agents who repeatedly report groups of larger than 20 will face retribution. Management will either take them out of the field and assign them to processing at the station or assigning them to a fixed position in low volume areas as a punishment.
TANTAROS: Wow, so, Greg, he's trying to report an accurate number of illegals crossing the border and he has to fear for his job if he actually does his job.
GREG GUTFELD: It's incredible. I have to say it’s not, I am pro-immigration, the more the merrier, I don't think it's their fault for coming here illegally, because we make it so damn easy. Can you blame them? It's like buying a new car, leaving your keys in with the windows down in a busy part of town, it's going to be get stolen. We make it easy for them. Now we can’t form a line. You can’t form a line without a proper entrance.
Imagine if Disney had no fence, the teacups would become pea cups. The Matterhorn would become it doesn’t matter horn because borders establish worth. We appreciate what we have in this country and what we have earned and what we’ve worked for because it's not free. And I think anybody that wants to come over here and is a good citizen and a good person should come. But it's not worth it to them if they sneak. It just isn't.
TANTAROS: It's not even that too, to build on Greg's analogy, it's the car Dana with the windows down, unlocked with a cheeseburger and fries inside and money and cash and CD’s and an iPod. I mean, we're giving them incentives to cross the border, yet the administration keeps telling us, the car's lock, the windows are up, don’t worry, we’ve got a complete security system. Which isn't true.
DANA PERINO: He’s a brave person to come forward and to say this is what I’m seeing, he's there at the border, he’s testifying in front of Congress at a time when Congress is putting forward a budget where we're making priorities of what are we going to spend in order to help deal with this border issue which isn't solved in any way at this point but will be part of the discussion in the next couple of months.
TANTAROS: But I think that Republicans, Eric, should start to pass clean border security bills in the House and in the Senate and send them to the president's desk. No goodies, no amnesty, no other stuff, just clean, secure the border now bills and keep pushing them and driving that news cycle, so the president either has to sign it or explain why he doesn't sign it.
ERIC BOLLING: Yeah, good. And obviously the border agents need a little bit of help trying to figure out whether they’re going to do their job or not. I mean, if you’re getting it from the top down, if you report too many footprints in the sand, you're going to end up doing paperwork back in the office. That’s not the way to do it. What’s really outrageous to me is President Obama will go to a podium and say we have the fewest number of illegals coming across the border now. He’ll say we have done more deportations than any other president in history and the numbers just, they don't bear out.
When you look at this border agent telling you what's really going on. If they see a group of ten people, a border agent, and sees them coming across and they say stop, go back, they count those 10 as deportations. Those aren’t processed deportations. Our processed deportations are severely down. The ones they send back across the border are up and they're counting those. So the numbers, why don't they just come out and say it, we don't have a southern border, we don’t want to have a southern border strategy. There isn’t one.
I mean, I remember Jay Carney once standing up at the podium saying the border is secure. So why is President Obama fudging the numbers? Is it so that he can make a case for getting amnesty? Why are border agents fearing their jobs from actually doing their job? Why is this happening?
JUAN WILLIAMS: Let me just read a quote to you, a quote tweeted earlier this week by our boss Rupert Murdoch, he says “Republicans are talking nonsense on strong borders where no net inflow for a long time.” This is Rupert Murdoch.
GUTFELD: Well, I’ve changed my mind completely. This is so overblown. So completely overblown.
WILLIAMS: I agree. And why is he hanging around the elevators tweeting this stuff? But I mean the reality is, I don't know if this is some political statement by this border agent, but I got to tell you something, there's no evidence that there's any net inflow at this moment and the borders are more secure than ever.
TANTAROS: Juan you know the border’s not secure come on.
WILLIAMS: It’s more secure than ever.
BOLLING: You’re kidding right?
WILLIAMS: No, I'm not kidding and I'm going to tell you something else. I think this is an effort to stop immigration reform. And what you said is true. Republicans never put forward any ideas not even on border security.
BOLLING: Juan, are you suggesting that the numbers of illegals in the country has been stagnant over the years?
WILLIAMS: Coming across the southern border is what we’re talking about.
TANTAROS: It will take a terrorist to slip through the border and then we’ll do something.
WILLIAMS: You're going to beat me around the head.
