NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As he approaches what could be a tough re-election campaign, Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles has launched a hardcore, anti-immigration campaign.
But what are the facts?
David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, has studied the issue perhaps as much as anyone in the country.
He says the Maury County Republican and his anti-immigration allies get a lot wrong.
"It's just totally backwards. The entire narrative couldn't be more wrong,” Bier told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
As part of his anti-immigrant crusade, Ogles has accused immigrants of bringing crime to America and ripping off taxpayers.
"If you actually look at the crime numbers,” Bier said, “every data source that we have, every single one that we've looked at shows the same story about immigrants and crime. They reduced the crime rate in the United States."
According to Cato figures, native-born Americans were incarcerated at a rate of 1,195 for every 100,000 people.
Undocumented immigrants were lower with a rate of 674 people per 100,000 – with documented immigrants being incarcerated at a rate of just 303 per 100,000.
"Yes, there are more crimes committed when the population is larger, but if the crime rate is lower, then your likelihood of being a victim of a crime goes down,” Bier explained.
And what about Ogles’ claims that immigrants are a drain on taxpayers?
"The immigrants we have today and the recently arrived immigrants are the most productive immigrants we've ever had in America,” Bier said.
“It's basically the opposite of the story that's being told about them."
Cato says, between 1994 and 2023, immigrants generated more in taxes than they received in benefits.
They created a cumulative fiscal surplus of $14.5 trillion.
Without immigrants, the U.S. government debt would be nearly twice its 2023 level.
"They're not taking jobs, they're creating better jobs – and you can see this everywhere in the economy,” the Cato Institute expert insisted.
Ogles has also called for repeal of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, claiming he wants to "make America look like America again."
Hart-Cellar repealed racial quotas that had been pushed by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.
"So, again,” Bier said, “you're advocating for the policy that kept the Jews in Europe to be killed, that excluded non-white immigration overwhelmingly."
Bier said that, whether the Tennessee Republican will admit it or not, what he's pushing is a radical vision for America.
"Maybe he just doesn't care if you're not totally on board with a white-only America or a Christian-only America. But most people in America don't agree with him on this."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates also discovered that, on the social media platform X, Ogles follows an account that puts out its own stats to argue why the U.S. should be for white-people only. It even suggests Black Americans could be paid to move to Africa.
That account, we discovered, is run by a couple of people with white supremacist and neo-Nazi ties.
Ogles office has not responded to NewsChannel 5’s request for an interview to give him a chance to answer questions about his immigration agenda.
You can watch the full, unedited video with David Bier here.
Related: Group gives Congressman Andy Ogles A+ on 'remigration,' also linked to account that praises Hitler
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