4. Immigrants are stealing our jobs

One of the most egregious arguments used to vilify illegal immigrants is that they’re stealing jobs from American citizens. There are two problems with this argument. First, it ignores that there are two operators in this equation: The immigrant laborer and the business hiring him or her. In other words, it takes two to tango. American farms and businesses knowingly hire these laborers. In fact, they go out of their way to do so. Plainly, U.S. businesses are enticing immigrants to come here without documentation because they’re offering them employment. But you won’t hear Trump nor those railing the loudest against illegal immigration ever mention the business side of this equation.

Secondly, though economists may vary in their evaluation of the impact of immigrants on the job market and wages, economists on both sides of the political divide have typically concluded that immigrant labor benefits the economy and does not take jobs from U.S. citizens or “native workers.” Instead, they do very different jobs. You’ll sometimes hear proponents of immigrant labor somewhat blithely put it this way: “They do jobs Americans don’t want to do.” Additionally, economists argue, immigrants are taking a growing number of jobs as native workers move on to higher-skilled jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 4.6 million such jobs, which don’t require a college degree may be added to the market by 2022. An additional 4.2 million jobs are projected, which do not require a high school diploma. These include personal care and home health aide jobs.

5. ISIS terrorists have been sneaking across the Mexican/United States border

A number of pundits have claimed that ISIS terrorists have been sneaking across the border by “the dozens” or that ISIS is present in Mexico. Politifact has repeatedly rated these claims anywhere from “False” to “Mostly False” to “Pants on Fire.”

It bears pointing out, however, that this fear is typically raised about the Mexican border and not the Canadian one. One doesn’t have to ponder too long to conclude why this fear is typically directed towards the south but not the north.