MSNBC: Border reality should change GOP talking points

By Steve Benen, May 28, 2015, MSNBC

Among Republicans, certain basic truths are so widely understood, they’re not even questioned. Theyknow Obama increased the deficit. They know “Obamacare” is government-run healthcare. And theyknow the Obama administration has been woefully indifferent to securing the border.

Of course, all of these truths are plainly wrong – in fact, they’re the opposite of reality – including that last one. The Washington Post has a great piece this morning on the changing nature of the debate about border security.

As the Department of Homeland Security continues to pour money into border security, evidence is emerging that illegal immigration flows have fallen to their lowest level in at least two decades. The nation’s population of illegal immigrants, which more than tripled, to 12.2 million, between 1990 and 2007, has dropped by about 1 million, according to demographers at the Pew Research Center. […] 

Homeland security officials in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations – who have more than doubled the Border Patrol’s size and spent billions on drones, sensors and other technology at the border – say enhanced security is driving the new trends.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the Post, “We have seen tremendous progress. The border is much more secure than in times past.”

More: www.msnbc.com