Analysis: Spicers claim there are 12, 14, 15 million people in the U.S. illegally
In response to questions about President Trump’s expansion of immigration enforcement priorities, White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed three times that there are somewhere between 12 million and 15 million — “potentially more” — people living illegally in the United States.
During the campaign, Trump claimed that the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States could be anywhere between 3 million and 30 million. (PolitiFact rated that Pants on Fire.) Spicer’s claim was not as outrageous but still is questionable. We reviewed the facts.
The Facts
Spicer responded to our inquiry, pointing to December 2015 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldaña: “Probably every illegal alien could be removed. But that’s 12 million people — or 15 million, depending on what estimate you look at. … I don’t think anybody who thinks that we can go about, rounding up people, with a $6.5 billion budget, as generous as that is, and as grateful as I am for it, believes that we can go and do that under that budget. There are reasons to make wise and smart and effective immigration priorities.”
But that 15 million figure was inconsistent with Department of Homeland Security estimates of 11 million. After the hearing, ICE played down Saldaña’s statement, saying she “was citing it only informally,” the Washington Times reported.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/analysis-spicer%e2%80%99s-claim-there-are-%e2%80%9812-14-15-million%e2%80%99-people-in-the-us-illegally/ar-AAnfb77?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=edgsp
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