Trump says 10 terrorists caught trying to enter US from Mexico. But it’s a myth
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
For some time now, US President Donald Trump has been encouraging people to think of Mexico as a portal for international terrorists who “pour” into the US. Except, he says, for 10 who were recently caught by the US: “These are very serious people.”
These 10 do not exist, except as a federal statistic that Trump and his vice president put through a rhetorical grinder in service of describing emigrants from Mexico as a menace.
Here is how the myth of the “very serious” 10 developed over the months, culminating this week in Trump’s assertion that “we caught 10 terrorists. These are over the last very short period of time — 10.”
In July 2017, a State Department report on terrorism comes out, breaking down perceived threats by country, and it does not fit into Trump’s story about danger from the south.
It says: “There are no known international terrorist organizations operating in Mexico, no evidence that any terrorist group has targeted US citizens in Mexican territory, and no credible information that any member of a terrorist group has traveled through Mexico to gain access to the United States.”
At most, it notes that “Mexican government officials observed on social media an increase in terrorist group sympathizers in its territory over the previous year.”
That report dwells much more on the northern neighbor, home to “Canada-based violent extremists inspired by terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda and their affiliates and adherents.” Moreover, Canada has experienced episodes of terrorism at the hands of sympathizers of those organizations. And, the report says, Canada faces a “significant challenge in prosecuting individuals who have traveled abroad to engage in terrorism, due to the difficulty in proving association with terrorist organizations or having committed specific terrorist acts.”
Yet the State Department credits both Canada and Mexico with cooperating with the US on terrorism and strengthening protections. And no evidence has emerged that terrorists are pouring in from Canada, either.
In January, a joint report by the Homeland Security and Justice departments states that Homeland Security had 2,554 “encounters” worldwide with people on a terrorist watch list who were trying to travel to the US. That breaks down to an average of seven per day, and is the seed of what becomes Trump’s claim about the “very serious” 10.
The vast majority, 2,170, were trying to come by air, with 335 by land and the rest by sea. Nothing ties them specifically to Mexico.
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Because that is an incredibly stupid way of entering the country.
When Trump was cautioned that ‘10’ is a suspiciously round number for his fake news story, he changed it to 10.5 terrorists.