Nonsensical figures on illegal immigration

[struggle4progress]

By Glenn Kessler
January 29 at 3:00 AM

“We are not even into February and the cost of illegal immigration so far this year is $18,959,495,168. Cost Friday was $603,331,392. There are at least 25,772,342 illegal aliens, not the 11,000,000 that have been reported for years, in our Country. So ridiculous! DHS”

... Neither the White House nor DHS responded to requests for an explanation of the president’s numbers. Even acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he didn’t know the source of the president’s figures ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/29/president-trump-tweets-nonsensical-figures-illegal-immigration/

[struggle4progress]

1. Fact-checking claim on cost of illegal immigration

By Miriam Valverde on Monday, January 28th, 2019 at 5:02 p.m.

... Trump’s tweet ends with "DHS" — the acronym for the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for the enforcement of immigration laws. We asked DHS and the White House to provide the research Trump used for his claim. Neither presented information.

Last month, Trump claimed illegal immigration cost the United States $250 billion a year. We rated that False because even the highest estimates we found were nowhere near $250 billion ...

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/jan/28/donald-trump/fact-checking-donald-trumps-claim-cost-illegal-imm/

[Bleacher Creature]

2. The false precision is a dead giveaway.

$18,959,495,168?? Seriously? Not $18,959,495,167 or $18,959,495,169?

[gunsmoker]

3. Study shows

A prestigious university’s peer-reviewed journal released a scientific study indicating that 94.7% of statistics are made up and fictional.

[RainCaster]

4. PIOMA

Pulled It Outta My Ass