Concerned About Immigration? Must be “Russian Disinformation”
In a piece worthy of the Soviet propaganda outlet Pravda (which, ironically, means “truth” in Russian and other Slavic languages), the Associated Press (AP) has claimed that Americans who view the escalating border crisis with concern are simply being duped by “Russian disinformation.” To clarify definitions, “disinformation” refers to the deliberate spreading of false information, while “misinformation” is the unintentional spreading of such information. As the border crisis becomes ever more serious, apparently those who see and speak out about it are engaged in deception.
According to the AP article, “[i]n recent weeks, Russian state media and online accounts tied to the Kremlin have spread and amplified misleading and incendiary content about U.S. immigration and border security. The campaign seems crafted to stoke outrage and polarization before the 2024 election for the White House.” The article does not address the reality of open borders, with its resultant crime, costs and national security threats, only pushing insinuations that critics of open borders are exaggerating, “misstating” or repeating supposedly “debunked” information or otherwise under the spell of a foreign enemy. The reality is the border is in crisis, but the article seems to completely downplay this, particularly in terms of illegal alien crime.
The article mentions the murder of Georgia student Laken Riley by an illegal alien from Venezuela released on immigration parole, saying that “[t]he killing (…) quickly became a rallying cry for former President Donald Trump and other Republicans who suggest that migrants commit crimes more often than do U.S. citizens. The evidence does not support those claims.” The cold manner with which the author addresses the brutal murder of Laken Riley by illegal alien parolee Jose Ibarra – even avoiding mentioning the victim’s name – is quite telling. For the author, the problem seems to be not so much that an illegal alien killed an American, but rather that “Trump and other Republicans” have dared to bring attention to it.
The AP claim that migrants commit less crime than Americans is presented as a simple and undeniable fact, even though it is anything but. FAIR has shown that illegal aliens are actually at least three times as likely to be incarcerated than both U.S. citizens and legal immigrants. But debates over comparative crime rates aside, every crime committed by an illegal alien is an additional crime and one that would not have occurred if our borders were secure and our laws enforced.
Russia has undoubtedly attempted to muddy the well in terms of immigration coverage, but has not taken a “side” in the debate, as the AP article seems to imply. A USA Today article from May 2018 pointed out that “[i]n the first half of 2017, as Trump aggressively moved to restrict immigration, fake Facebook pages set up by a Russian propaganda operation started pushing ads on both sides of the immigration debate,” including “[o]ne set of ads [that] targeted users who had shown interest in Hispanic and Latino culture with pro-immigration messages.” However, the fact some Russian-affiliated social media accounts may have posted stories about the southern border crisis does not in any way change the fact that the crisis is indeed out of control. It also does not imply that Russia desires secure American borders.
It is a fact that Russia does not support U.S. border security, or that of any Western nation. The Kremlin has sought to weaponize illegal migration against our allies in NATO by encouraging (mainly) Middle Eastern migrants from terror-rife countries to rush Finland’s border. Russia’s close ally Belarus has done the same in the hopes of undermining Poland and the Baltic nations. Closer to home, the Biden Border Crisis has seen nationwide encounters of Russian illegal aliens skyrocket, from 13,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 to 57,000 in FY 2023, a fourfold increase. While many are likely economic migrants, with a fair sprinkling of potential draft-dodgers, some may be Russian intelligence assets – a potential threat which the author of the AP article seems not to consider.
Just as it the past, Moscow propagandists wish primarily to make the U.S. look bad by emphasizing its problems. However, the chief blame should be laid at the door of open-borders policies, including those who implement them and those in the media who defend or distract from them. Telling Americans to ignore the very real and tragic extent of the border crisis, lest they further supposed “Russian disinformation,” is both an insult to their intelligence and an attempt to blackmail and muzzle them, a tactic reminiscent of the most brazen and infamous Soviet propagandists.