Immigration & Drug War Politics: Don't exaggerate violence in U.S. border towns, Janet Napolitano urges

The borderland is an area where demagoguery beats reality.

U.S.-Mexico border: Don't exaggerate violence in U.S. border towns, Janet Napolitano urges - latimes.com:

"Battling the widespread perception that U.S. border cities have become more dangerous, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday called on public officials to stop exaggerating the violence on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico and "be honest with the people we serve."

In a speech in El Paso, Napolitano cited FBI statistics showing that violent crime rates in Southwest border counties are down 30% over the last two decades and are "among the lowest in the nation." ..... She added that the number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border — an indication of illegal cross-border traffic — has decreased 36% over the last two years. ...

Angela Kelley, an immigration policy expert at the Center for American Progress in Washington, argued that there was a 'pretty big disconnect' between the public perception about safety along the border and what the statistics showed.

'When you have politicians stirring the pot and turning up the heat on people's emotions and fear levels, you don't have a constructive debate on what to do,' she said. But she added: 'Facts matter, but only to a point … because it is what citizens believe that defines the debate and sets the agenda in Washington. (AMB emphasis) We can't be tone deaf to what the public believes.'"