WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden on Thursday misrepresented the reality on the U.S.-Mexico border when he claimed that “nothing has changed” when it comes to the number of children coming to the United States since his predecessor, Donald Trump , in office. The numbers have been higher since Biden became president on January 20.
In his first presidential news conference, Biden also presented a misleading report on who benefits most from the Trump tax cuts.
A look at Biden’s comments:
Border
PRAY, asked about the increase in immigrant children crossing the border: “The truth is nothing has changed. So many people came – 28% increase in children to the border in my administration; 31% in the last year in 2019, before the pandemic – in the Trump administration. It happens every single year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year. ”
THE FACTS: The president erred. Unaccompanied immigrant children came to the border in greater numbers than he said.
According to statistics published by the US Customs and Border Protection, authorities encountered 9,457 children without a parent in February, an increase of 61% from January, not 28%. The number of unaccompanied children increased by 31% between January 2019 and February 2019.
When asked about Biden’s statement, the Department of Homeland Security points to figures for all border crossings, including adults and families traveling together. There was a 28% increase in all encounters with migrants between January and last month, compared to 31% between the same months in 2019. But Biden specifically notes an increase ‘in children’.
Biden correctly noted seasonal trends in migration and the trend in many years that the border crossing increases before the hot summer months. But as he sought to abolish his inauguration as the reason why many children and teenagers decided to migrate to the US, migrants interviewed by The Associated Press expressed hope that the country would be allowed more for migrants under Biden than under Trump .
Taxation
COMMANDMENT to Republicans who argue that its pandemic relief package is too expensive: “Do you hear them complain when they (a) pass nearly $ 2 trillion in Trump’s tax cuts, with 83% going to the highest 1%? Do you hear them talking about it at all? ‘
THE FACTS: This is misleading. The tax cuts implemented under Trump have favored the top 1% excessively, but not nearly as much as Biden and many Democrats claim.
Biden can name his figure because many of the Trump tax cuts for families and individuals will lapse unless Congress extends them. If it expires on schedule, 83% of the tax cuts that remain in place will go to the top 1% of earners in 2027, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center.
However, it is not the case that the highest 1% of income earners get 83% of the benefits now or during the next few years. Biden is expected to propose an increase in corporate taxes that would undo much of what Trump would do in his 2017 overhaul.
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Infrastructure
PRAY, spend large sums on airports and other infrastructure: ‘I mean, look, the future depends on whether we have the best airports or not – which can accommodate air travel … Aviation, 20% of all flights – 20% of all flights was not on time, leading to 1.5 million hours of production loss. ”
THE FACTS: He places too much blame for late flight on infrastructure. Flight delays are much more the fault of airlines themselves, and the trend has been increasing for years.
In 2020, for example, 71% of flight delays were due to circumstances within the airline’s control, such as crew or baggage issues, or due to the previous flight arriving late, according to the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics. About 22% were due to a delay in the national aviation system, which does include infrastructure problems, such as insufficient terminals, gates or ramps. The remaining delays are responsible for extreme weather or security issues.
A decade before 2009, the national aviation system problems caused a greater amount of flight delays, about 31%, compared to 64% due to airline problems.
That said, a card for civil engineers recently received aviation infrastructure a sad D + due to lack of capacity.