If you only listen to campaign debates, congressional hearings, and popular media, you may think that the U.S.-Mexico border is a “war zone,” where a neglectful federal government is letting migrants stream across the border while leaving U.S. citizens at the mercy of thugs. Too often, completely unsubstantiated, politicized claims are treated as facts. This polarizing debate fuels calls for massive increases in security spending and more force—even military deployments—along the border.
WOLA has dedicated some of our top experts to study what is really happening in the borderlands. Our border security project interviews Border Patrol, military and other law enforcement personnel, partner organizations, and local experts to assess the true security situation and the real impact of our current border security policies on migrants.
To make WOLA’s border research readily accessible—and respond more quickly to false or misleading claims—today WOLA is launching a new blog: Border Fact Check: Separating Rhetoric from Reality.
Themes of recent posts include:
- Questioning official assurances that Border Patrol holds itself accountable for migrant abuse
- Debunking claims about out-of-control “spillover violence”
- Refuting the assertion that Iran is working with the Zetas
- Evaluating the potential impact of new anti-tunnel laws
- Looking at trends of family separation and unaccompanied minors crossing the border
Visit the blog at: www.borderfactcheck.com. We’ll be updating it frequently.
You can also sign up to receive blog posts via email by visiting the site.
The information on this blog is compiled by our border team, Adam Isacson and Maureen Meyer, authors of the recently released study Beyond the Border Buildup: Security and Migrants Along the U.S.-Mexico Border.
