NBC Confronts Mike Pence on Misleading Border Policy Claims: 'You're Not Talking About a Wall or Barrier With Canada'

NBC Chief White House Correspondent Hallie Jackson confronted Vice President Mike Pence about misleading claims from the Trump administration on Tuesday.

While speaking with news outlets prior to President Donald Trump's Tuesday night prime-time address, Pence offered information about known or suspected terrorists, even though such individuals rarely enter the country through the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pence's invocation of a statistic related to terrorism suspects came two days after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders falsely told Fox News' Chris Wallace that border agents had prevented about 4,000 terrorists from coming into the U.S.

NBC News published an article on Monday noting that government data showed only six immigrants in the federal government database of known or suspected terrorists had been stopped at the Southern border in the first half of fiscal year 2018. But 41 non-American citizens in the federal database were stopped at the border with Canada between October 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018.

"On the Northern border it was six times as many," Jackson said while speaking to NBC News. "Yet you're not talking about a wall or barrier with Canada. What's the difference?"

Pence responded that the difference "is that we're now seeing 60,000 people a month attempt to come into our country illegally on the Southern border," adding that "they're predominantly families and unaccompanied children for the first time ever."

"We've seen more than 4,000 known or suspected terrorists attempt to come into our country through various means, but on the Southern border," Pence continued after another question, before Jackson interrupted.

"Let me stop you on that number, because it is a misleading claim that's been fact-checked, as I believe you're aware, because that number is for all ports of entry, including airports," she said.

"On the Southern border, last year alone, 3,000 special interest aliens were apprehended trying to come into our country. Those are individuals whose travel patterns or backgrounds represent the need for additional screening, and represent a potential security threat to the United States of America. They're two different categories, and they often get conflated."

Canada and the U.S. share 5,525 miles of border, according to the International Boundary Commission. In the first half of 2018, agents at the Northern U.S. border stopped 445 people attempting to illegally enter the country, CBS News reported. The figure is a 142 percent increase from the first half of 2017.

Jackson also confronted Pence about President Donald Trump's claim that some former presidents had said they should have built a wall on the Southern border.

But representatives of all former presidents who could have offered such remarks to Trump, including recently deceased George H.W. Bush, denied that such statements had been made.

"Well, you, you—I know that the president has said that was his impression from previous administrations, previous presidents," Pence said. "I know I've seen clips of previous presidents talking about the importance of border security, the importance of addressing the issue of illegal immigration."

New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman wrote that "the implication [of Pence's comments] is Trump couldn't distinguish between his own impressions and objectively-held reality in the form of previous comments."

Trump has previously hinted that he could declare a national emergency to build the wall without congressional approval of the $5.7 billion he has demanded for the construction.

Negotiations for a funding bill have dragged on without success. The partial government shutdown is now in its 18th day.

Democratic leaders say they will not approve a spending bill that includes funding for a border wall.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will give a response to Trump's prime-time address on Tuesday.