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A highly misleading Columbus Dispatch headline

This morning, I clicked on a Columbus Dispatch letter-to-the-editor, entitled, "Statistics don't support view of immigrants." I figured the piece dealt with Donald Trump's controversial comments regarding immigrants and were highly supportive of them. Since widely regarded fact-checkers ruled Trump's statements as "false," I was curious just what "statistics" the author was going to cite. Well, to my surprise, as soon as I began to read the letter-to-the-editor, I could see the headline was quite misleading, as it omitted one key word: "Trump's," so that it would read, "Statistics don't support Trump's view of immigrants."

Here was the writing in its entirety, authored by Tom Baillieul of Columbus:

"A Monday letter to the editor made the claim that billionaire Donald Trump’s 'statements about disporportionate crime committed by illegal immigrants is factually correct' (' Trump’s critics deny truth in order to be PC').

The reality is very different.

In a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times, Timothy Egan notes, 'The Congressional Research Service found that the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants do not fit in the category that fits Trump’s description: aggravated felons, whose crimes include murder, drug trafficking or illegal trafficking of firearms.'

The Washington Post reports, 'CRS also found that noncitizens make up a smaller percentage of the inmate population in state prisons and jails, compared to their percentage in the total U.S. population.'

Based on an analysis of data from the FBI, the U.S. Census Bureau and other agencies, the American Immigration Council reports: 'A variety of different studies using different methodologies have found that immigrants are less likely than the native-born to engage in either violent or nonviolent ‘antisocial’ behaviors; that immigrants are less likely than the native-born to be repeat offenders among ‘high risk’ adolescents; and that immigrant youth who were students in U.S. middle and high schools in the mid-1990s and are now young adults have among the lowest delinquency rates of all young people.'

In addition, the Pew Research Center reports that 'the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped and may have reversed.'

This is apparently the result of several factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings, the long-term decline in Mexico’s birth rates and improved economic conditions in Mexico.

Trump appears to have no problem fabricating facts; unfortunately, a lot of his followers seem willing to accept what he says without question.

During campaign seasons, it should be every voter’s responsibility to fact-check the statements of all politicians.

If that happens, maybe we’ll start to get more honesty from the podium."

Amen. ...and maybe if newspapers started actually reading letters-to-the-editor before providing them headlines, we'd be better off for it as well.

The only possible defense I could provide the Columbus Dispatch is that they have a psychic working for them and the headline was based off the comments the letter-to-the-editor was bound to generate, which included the following:

- "Be sure to tell thst to the parents of Hilliard who's son was killed by a drunk illegal that was released and fled back to Mexico while they bury their son. Illegals are criminals Period. They broke our law by coming here and should be trated as the driminals they are. And no amount of spin will change that."

If only poor spelling, punctuation, and grammar were "driminal" offenses as well...


- "Deport them! The life you save may be your child's. Stupido Americanos"

You're talking about guns, right? No? Even though studies show guns in this country kill more than illegal immigrants? Fascinating...


- "Why do so many support Illegal Aliens over true citizens?"

I don't know. Why don't you ask Native Americans that same question?


- "http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/illegal_aliens_murder_at_a_much_higher_rate_than_us_citizens_do.html"

A link to a far right-wing website fact-checking actual fact-checkers? Hold on a moment while I "fact-check" astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson by listening to The Rush Limbaugh Show...

On that note, I retract my earlier potential psychic-defense for the Dispatch. Next time, read the letters you're going to publish a little more closely before providing them with headlines which showcase you didn't do as much. Thanks.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2015/07/20/1-baillieul-g5r12k6ld-1.html

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