Trump Makes Misleading Border Wall Claims Before Meeting With Democrats

A few hours ahead of a scheduled meeting with Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leaders in Congress, President Donald Trump pushed a false narrative Tuesday about the progress of a new wall along the country’s Southwest border.

The wall — and funding for it — is the biggest sticking point between the two parties with a partial government shutdown days away unless Congress passes a spending package by Friday of next week. Trump has insisted that $5 billion for a border wall must be included in the spending package under consideration.

Here is some additional context about Trump’s Twitter posts Tuesday morning.

What Trump said: “Despite the large Caravans that WERE forming and heading to our Country, people have not been able to get through our newly built Walls, makeshift Walls & Fences, or Border Patrol Officers & Military. They are now staying in Mexico or going back to their original countries.......”

True.

Trump was promoting his administration’s border security, saying that migrants have not been able to get through to the United States.

Thousands of migrants are waiting on the Mexican side of the border, as the United States processes their requests for asylum. Customs and Border Protection officers typically review 40 to 100 asylum requests a day, which significantly slows down the process. Asylum requests have increased 70 percent over the past year.

Part of the increase is the result of families of migrants fleeing violence in Central America, immigration advocates say.

The Trump administration says the majority of the asylum applications will not be approved by the United States.

What Trump said: “.....Ice, Border Patrol and our Military have done a FANTASTIC job of securing our Southern Border. A Great Wall would be, however, a far easier & less expensive solution. We have already built large new sections & fully renovated others, making them like new. The Democrats,.....”

This requires context.

Trump campaigned on a promise to build a 1,000-mile long border wall to be paid for by Mexico. In late October, prototypes for this wall were unveiled, but no construction on new portions of the wall has commenced, in part because of a lack of funding. The administration has issued a contract to begin construction on parts of a new wall in Texas.

Trump is correct in that some sections of the existing fence are being renovated to replace old barriers with new ones.

It is not yet known, however, whether a wall would be a cheaper way to stop migrants than other immigration proposals, as the president has claimed.

The wall has an estimated price tag of $25 billion. But there is no official cost estimate for the project, making it impossible to conclude it is a “less expensive” solution. Democrats have said the wall would carry a $70 billion price tag, and the Department of Homeland Security has said it was still studying options that would help determine the cost — meaning a final estimate is not available.

What Trump said: “....however, for strictly political reasons and because they have been pulled so far left, do NOT want Border Security. They want Open Borders for anyone to come in. This brings large scale crime and disease. Our Southern Border is now Secure and will remain that way.......”

“.....I look forward to my meeting with Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi. In 2006, Democrats voted for a Wall, and they were right to do so. Today, they no longer want Border Security. They will fight it at all cost, and Nancy must get votes for Speaker. But the Wall will get built...”

False.

Trump has long charged that Democrats want open borders, slinging accusations at a higher clip in the waning days of the midterm elections campaign in November.

Democrats do not want open borders, evidenced in part by border security legislative measures that Democrats have supported. What Democrats do not want is Trump’s costly border wall.

What Trump said: “....People do not yet realize how much of the Wall, including really effective renovation, has already been built. If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!”

This lacks evidence.

Trump threatened to have the military build the new wall if Democrats did not give him the funding he had asked for, but it was not immediately clear where the military’s funding for this wall would come from.