Message from Dan Patrick, Lt. Governor Texas

An excerpt of Dan Patrick's e-mail regarding the facts on illegals--

I appeared on Fox News several times on Friday and yesterday talking about border security and correcting the massive amounts of misinformation that has arisen from the left regarding President Trump's "Zero Tolerance" policy.  The opposition to the policy of illegal immigration is nothing more than a political attack by the open borders crowd.  No one wants to separate families, not the President, not Senators Cruz or Cornyn, not Republicans in Congress and not me.

Democrats Support a 100% Tolerance Policy

If we don't have a "zero tolerance" policy then how much legal immigration do our opponents believe America should tolerate?

We know Democrats are in favor of open borders — so that's "100% tolerance" of illegal immigration, right?  It seems there are moderates in our own party who want us to accept many of the people who are illegally entering the country without question.  Are they asking for 50% tolerance? 40%?  65%?  What percentage of the people who are entering our country illegally at the border do they believe we should ignore?

How Many Illegals are currently in the U.S.?

Since I have been Lt. Governor, I have directed $1.6 billion to border security for more equipment, planes and additional boots on the ground.  In my work and analysis of border issues, many have told me that the number of illegals who are currently in Texas and the U.S. is greatly underestimated.

Most news sources regularly report that there are about 11 million illegal aliens in the U. S.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce first released the 11 million estimate in 2004.  From Texas to California, border forces apprehended an average of about 400,000 people over the last five years attempting to enter the country illegally.  Most estimate that they only catch one in five — 20 percent of the people who cross the border illegally.  Some believe it's one in ten, but taking the lower number —  1 out of 5 — means that about 1.5 million people are illegally crossing into Texas annually that are not apprehended.

Over 13 years, that is almost 20 million people.  When that number is added to the 11 million who were identified in 2004 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the total is somewhere between 25 and 30 million people who are living in the United States illegally.

I talked about this issue in detail on America's Newsroom on Friday morning. 

The Facts about Asylum

Asylum requests from Central America have increased 800% over the past year as residents of those countries recognize that an asylum request can be a way to subvert the immigration system.  Asylum is granted for political, religious and prejudice prosecution.  Even though their lives may be difficult, most do not fit in that category.  Asylum courts are now so over-crowded that most applicants simply fail to show up for their court date and then disappear into the U.S. as undocumented aliens. When there are court proceedings, an estimated 80 percent or more requests for asylum are denied because they do not meet the standards under the law.