POLITICS — Misleading Posts
Rep. Webster, FL, Shows How to Lie with Statistics
The number is real, so the clickbait implications are the lie

To panic the casual reader
- It appears that the US suddenly had 2 million illegals where there weren’t any before — a horrible change.
- The number is for a normal timeframe of a year.
- Trump did a great job preventing illegals.
Reality
Statistics on Google are all over the place, covering numerous categories and many timeframes. There is probably one to support any position you want to take.
For this post, most people think by month or year.
This post of 2 million covers 15 months!
Assuming the same number for each month means 1.6 million over a year, not 2 million. So, the 2 million number itself is misleading.
Trump in 2019 had 1.25 million illegals, lower but not great. So, Biden’s number is not really that new.
Some people are sent back and cross again. As a result, they may be counted 3 or 4 times, which inflates the crossings number.
What would have been accurate
Based on the above numbers, either of these posts would have been better.
— 350,000 increase in illegal border crossings under Biden — Illegal border crossings increased 30% under Biden
Not as sensational, but more accurate. Posting misleading numbers tends to negatively impact one’s credibility and makes me wonder if anything else is accurate.
References
- Stats show big increase of recidivism under Biden (crossing more than once)
- Total count is inflated by that recidivism
- Link shows total illegals living in US by year
- Each total was less than expected based on illegals counted at border
- Some individuals cross 2, 3 or 4 times & are counted each time at border
- Not directly related to the 2 million, but thwarts misconceptions
