Bachman Taken to Task on Illegal Immigrants }Halloween Edition
wsj.com
By Elizabeth Williamson
Happy Halloween
Comparing Michele Bachmann’s recent statements on illegal immigrants entering the U.S., one could be forgiven for thinking such immigrants from Yemen and Syria number either 59,000, or more accurately, 16.
On ABC News’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour,” Ms. Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate, was taken to task for her videotaped comments in which she said of illegal entrants to the U.S., “59,000 alone this year came across the border…from Yemen, from Syria. These are nations that are state sponsors of terror. They are coming into our country.”
Ms. Amanpour pointed out that 59,000 is the federal government’s tally of illegal immigrants apprehended from all nations other than Mexico. There were 11 Illegal immigrants from Yemen, and five from Syria. Total: 16. “I mean, how do you get those figures so wrong?” Ms. Amanpour asked the candidate.
Ms. Bachmann at first said she hadn’t said that, using a tactic she’s deployed after misstatements on other issues, and then went on with an explanation. (Actually, she did. Here’s the video: http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek).
“You’re missing the main point that I made,” Ms. Bachmann told Ms. Amanpour. “The fact that we have 59,000, other than Mexicans coming across in one year, certainly poses a threat. But no, I didn’t say that they were all from the state sponsors of terror,” she said.
”It is in fact in your statement there. Of course, Yemen is not classified as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Ms. Amanpour replied. (Yemen’s government aided the U.S. in killing suspected al Qaeda operative Anwar al Awlaki earlier this month.)
Ms. Amanpour tried to move on, but Ms. Bachmann jumped in: ”That’s right. That is right. Yemen is not a state sponsor of terror. Nor did I say that they were.”
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