Statics don't back Perry on criminals

Statics don't back Perry on criminals
By Marty Schladen
mschladen@elpasotimes.com
@martyschladen on Twitter
Posted: 07/26/2014 06:35:08 PM MDT

AUSTIN >> Border officials are accusing Gov. Rick Perry of using fuzzy math to justify spending $17.2 million a month sending troops and state police to South Texas in response to a wave of illegal immigration by Central American children and families.

In a press conference Monday, Perry rejected statements by border police agencies that no increase in crime has accompanied the influx of immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Instead, Perry pointed to a statistic frequently used by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw. It said "criminal aliens" have been charged with 642,000 crimes in Texas.

Perry said state troopers and soldiers are needed at the border to fill gaps left by a Border Patrol, which is distracted by dealing with the immigration crisis.

His use of the arrest statistic had an instant effect.

"Six hundred forty two thousand crimes committed by illegals since 2008," state Rep. Steve Toth, a Woodlands Republican who is running for the state Senate, tweeted after Perry's press conference. "Does that sound like a problem? Keep your Texas National Guard in your prayers as they're deployed."

More:
http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-news/ci_26223158/texas-governors-statistics-crime-by-immigrants-questioned