Thread by @BuzzFeedNews

Trump is about to make his case for a border wall.

We could be fact-checking his speech, but we want to try something different. Rather than responding to a crisis of his administration's own making, here’s the reality at the border:

Homeland Security statistics show a steady decline in border apprehensions over the past two decades.

buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfo…

Just 6 people detained at the border in the first half of 2018 were on a government watch list.
buzzfeednews.com/article/talala…

A 2016 State Department report said there's no info suggesting the border is being used by terrorists to enter the US.
state.gov/documents/orga…

There IS a humanitarian crisis happening at the border, but it is in part caused by the president's policies, @dcbigjohn explains.

In April, the Trump administration introduced a zero tolerance policy for people crossing into the country illegally.

Because parents traveling with children would be facing federal charges, the new policy ended up systematically separating them.

buzzfeednews.com/article/elamin…

In an apparent response to administration policies, migrants have started crossing the border in remote stretches of desert, where extreme weather and rugged terrain can make the journey taxing and deadly.
buzzfeednews.com/article/johnst…

While Trump makes his border wall demands, 800,000 federal workers aren’t getting paid as the partial government shutdown drags on. The White House insists this Trump-manufactured crisis is a national security concern, but it’s clear this is about one thing: politics.