Snopes Lies Again: Are All Immigrants Criminals?

A Look at the Weaponization of Fact-Checking

All journalism should strive to be truthful, but unfortunately fact-checking has largely devolved into partisan sniping, and it is all too frequently the last refuge of a scoundrel.

The weaponized fact-checking of Snopes is a perfect example. Consider its recent article claiming to debunk the Trump Administration’s comments that all illegal immigrants are criminals. (If you want to consider other instances of politicized fact-checking, I would point you to my book Special Victim Status, for an in-depth look at how the media has used politicized fact-checking in covering law enforcement and crime—playing up police shootings of blacks while downplaying shootings of whites.)

To supposedly nullify comments by Trump and the White House spokesperson, Snopes quotes a single, pro-illegal immigration activist and attorney making a legal distinction between criminal and civil penalties:

“…Some immigration-related crimes, for example illegal entry, are punishable under the criminal justice system while others, for example overstaying a visa, result in civil penalties instead.

“Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration law expert and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), said Leavitt's statements failed to recognize the distinction between the two justice systems and their effect on whether someone can accurately be classified as a criminal or not….

“Leavitt also said that immigrants who illegally enter the U.S. or overstay their visa are "by definition a criminal" or "subject to deportation," respectively. Illegal entry is defined as a crime under the U.S. Code, punishable by a fine or imprisonment. A U.S. Supreme Court opinion from 2012, however, established that it was not a crime for a "removable alien" to remain in the U.S. Therefore, simply being in the U.S. cannot form the basis for an immigrant being branded ‘criminal.’”

So is Snopes correct? Is this the only way of looking at the issue?

One need only consult some common dictionaries to discover the spin Snopes was putting on the issue. Undoubtedly, the question is a political one about which opinions may vary. But rather than simply stating that, Snopes took sides in the debate, claiming to definitively settle the question. However, by simply quoting a legal definition, it overlooks a counter argument about the common everyday use of the word “crime.”

Merriam-Webster defines crimes, in part, as, “an illegal act for which someone can be punished by the government.”

The Cambridge Dictionary defines crime, in part, as, “illegal activities... An illegal act.”

Under both definitions, since criminals are those who commit crimes, all illegal immigrants are therefore criminals since they commit illegal acts.

This shows Snopes was attempting to manipulate the common meaning of criminal to fit its own agenda. Again, I am not suggesting that people do not have the right to make up their own minds about whether or not all illegal immigrants are criminals. But it is false for Snopes’ to state its preferred view that not all illegal immigrants are criminals is “correct” or the only plausible way of looking at things.