It was American writer Mark Twain that attributed the phrase: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” in describing late British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s decision making. In a recent Star-News article, an American variant of this phrase reared its ugly head. City councilmember Mike Diaz stated in a Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, Star-News article entitled: “An Offer of Sanctuary, The Welcome Mat or Neither,” to reporter Robert Moreno, that: “In the United States about 47,000 citizens die from illegal aliens driving while intoxicated under alcohol and other kind of drugs.” Councilmember Diaz continues, “If you look at that there is a problem with people who are here illegally who are felons, creating crimes.” Adding, “If you can convince me that a sanctuary city is going to make our citizens safer, I’m all in it but there is no statistics that prove that.”
Well then I take your challenge . . . .
As an American I have deep sympathies for victims of crime and illegal behavior. I have at different points of my life been on the receiving end of criminal acts. Nevertheless, in our highly politicized context of immigration reform, deportations, and sanctuary cities, statistics matter as much as provable facts.
Upon reading this “statistic,” I set out to find the source or study that validates these numbers. Here’s what I found: On Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) website, it references a study by U.S. Department of Transportation; National Highway Transportation Safety Administration that shows: “each day, 27 Americans die of alcohol or drug related driving impairment.” In 2014, there were 9,967 victims who were either drivers, passengers, or occupants of vehicles who were killed.” The amount of any amount of people dying is of course unacceptable. No one should die at the hands of an impaired driver. But, it’s a far stretch from the alleged, “47,000 citizens that die at the hands of illegal aliens” as claimed by Councilmember Diaz.
In this case, the problem is not the reality of drunk driving but of our political leaders using false (or made up) statistics to augment weak arguments that ultimately bolster policy initiatives and decision making. It may be plausible that a majority of drunk drivers are undocumented. But, does one really believe that all the 9,967 drunk drivers in national study were illegal aliens as Councilmember Diaz calls them? This statistic does not even pass the giggle test.
If Councilmember Diaz does not want sanctuary city status for Chula Vista, then he should show and demonstrate accurate statistics. It is also claimed by Councilmember Diaz above, that: “If you can convince me that a sanctuary city is going to make our citizens safer, I’m all in it but there is no statistics that prove that.” Actually, a quick Google-search showed several studies by academics that concluded that there was no evidence of higher crime rates in cities with sanctuary policies.
But where did this claim that sanctuary cities are crime ridden and when did it first appear?
In a Washington Post article, dated Feb. 8, 2017, “Trump’s Claim that Sanctuary Cities ‘Breed Crime’,” the President admitted that, “I’m very much opposed to sanctuary cities. They breed crime. There’s a lot of problems.” However, the evidence shown by academics at University of California, Riverside, Highline College, and in a separate study, University of California, San Diego, show that there is no statistical (there’s the word again) significance between sanctuary city status and elevated numbers of crime. And, according to Washington Post article, “other studies showed that in some jurisdictions, immigrant-friendly policies led to a decrease in crime.” In other words, being a sanctuary city does not mean that there are increased levels of criminal activity.
So, what do we know: 1) that “illegal aliens” do not cause 47,000 deaths via drunk driving; and 2) that claims by President Trump have specific rhetorical objectives that can be parroted by lower-level elected officials to bolster and justify policy arguments.
I have met Councilmember Diaz and he seems to be an honest man; thus, I urge Councilmember Diaz to either retract his quote as an honest mistake; or to make good on his promise to support and vote in favor of sanctuary city status as he claimed he would do if he was shown contradictory statistics. Our faith in good government demands such a response.
