In Miami, safety in numbers

By Bill Adair
Published on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 11:59 a.m.

Related rulings:

"When NAFTA was passed, there was an acceleration of immigration from Mexico because people were in search of jobs."

Dennis Kucinich, Sunday, September 9th, 2007.

Ruling: Half-True | Details

"Congress only funded half the wall" between Mexico and the United States.

Bill Richardson, Sunday, September 9th, 2007.

Ruling: Mostly True | Details

"Thirty-four percent of Hispanics don't have any health care at all, don't have any health insurance."

Dennis Kucinich, Sunday, September 9th, 2007.

Ruling: True | Details

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The Univision debate in Miami on Sept. 9, 2007 wasn't so much a debate as it was a celebration of statistics.

Rather than attacking each other, the Democratic candidates rattled off numbers to show they understood Hispanic voters.

The numbers came fast and furious: 34 percent of Hispanics don't have any health insurance...Congress only funded 1/2 of the wall...we're spending $1.6-billion for all of Latin America.

We found some claims accurate, although Rep. Dennis Kucinich overstated the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on immigration.

Our findings:

* Kucinich overstated the impact of NAFTA on the increase of immigrants coming into the United States from Mexico. We gave that a Half True.

* We found Kucinich was correct when he said that 34 percent of Hispanics lack health insurance. We rated that a True.

* We gave Bill Richardson a Mostly True for his claim that the wall between the U.S. and Mexico is half-funded. Although that's technically correct, Congress and the White House have earmarked most of the money for the remainder of the wall.