Photo by Leo Reynolds. Licensed via Creative Commons. |
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall and I spoke on the phone a while back about the immigration screening he runs in the Nashville jail, and one of the things he said to me really stood out. Hall said that 99% of people in his system who are in an immigration jam will admit their status when asked.
In a country where "not guilty" is the moral equivalent of "no comment," where politicians will tell tall tales and hide their indiscretions even when they're caught in the act, and where "illegal immigrants" are often the ones who are characterized as morally bankrupt, this statistic points in the other direction.
These men and women don't provide a false name; they don't make up a story about a U.S. birthplace or a stamped visa in a passport they left at home. They fess up. And Sheriff Daron Hall is a witness to it happening 99% of the time.
Consistent, near universal truthfulness. That's a data point that should get more press.