Millions of immigrants are coming to the U.S. from foreign prisons and mental institutions. Immigrants are raising U.S. crime rates. Immigrants are ruining Social Security. Noncitizens are illegally voting in federal elections. Immigrants are taking U.S. jobs.
That is just a sampling of the false and misleading immigration claims former President Donald Trump has repeated during his 2024 presidential run.
Similar to his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, in this campaign Trump has stoked voters’ fears using immigrants as a scapegoat for what he considers to be the problems facing the U.S. And as in the past, his statements about immigration have been rife with misinformation.
Here are the facts behind eleven of his most repeated immigration falsehoods.
Falsehoods about migrants coming in from foreign prison and mental institutions
Foreign countries sending criminals to the U.S.: Trump has repeatedly claimed that countries are “emptying out their prisons and jails” and sending millions of people to illegally migrate to the U.S. That’s Pants on Fire! There is no evidence this is happening.
Trump incorrectly cited a drop in Venezuela’s crime rate as evidence of this phenomenon. Although Venezuelan government data is unreliable, some data from independent organizations shows that violent deaths in that country have recently decreased. Criminologists attribute this decline to Venezuela’s poor economy and the government’s extrajudicial killings, not the government emptying its prisons and sending criminals to the United States.
Trump has also fixated on the Democratic Republic of Congo when he repeats the claim. Not only is there no evidence that the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government is emptying its prisons or mental institutions, but U.S. immigration officials’ border encounters with Congolese people are minimal. They represent less than 0.03% of total encounters from fiscal year 2021 through June 2024
Falsehoods about migrants disadvantaging U.S. citizens, taking benefits
Diverting hurricane relief to immigrants: Following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Trump made the Pants on Fire! claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking disaster relief money to spend on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. But FEMA migrant funding does not come at disaster relief’s expense. Neither of FEMA’s two programs for migrants uses money from the agency’s Disaster Relief Fund. In fact, during his administration, Trump shifted FEMA funding — including money from the Disaster Relief Fund — to address immigration.
Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are hurting Social Security: Trump has falsely said that immigration is hurting Social Security. The key threat to Social Security’s long-term viability is a shortage of workers feeding their tax dollars into the system, alongside a growing number of retirement-age Americans qualifying to receive benefits. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are ineligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, but estimates have found they pay billions of dollars in Social Security taxes annually. This helps — not harms — the program’s solvency.
Falsehoods about noncitizen voting
Democrats are bringing migrants to the U.S. as voters: In January, Trump said Democrats are letting migrants into the U.S. and signing them up to vote in federal elections. That’s Pants on Fire! There is no evidence for this scheme. Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, and proven incidents of noncitizens casting ballots are rare. It can take years for newly arrived immigrants who are eligible to be granted asylum or other permanent legal status, and then it takes more years for them to be eligible to apply for citizenship.
Falsehoods about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio
Immigrants from Haiti are eating pets or geese: Trump amplified this false narrative that we rated Pants on Fire! Local officials say there is no evidence that is happening. Despite the fact-checks, Trump has persisted, saying he is repeating what has been “reported.” Local and national news outlets have debunked the baseless narrative.
There are 30,000 immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and they are here illegally: Speaking about Springfield, Ohio, Trump has incorrectly said “30,000 illegal migrants were put into a town of 50,000 people.” Springfield had 58,000 people in the 2020 census. City officials have said 12,000 to 20,000 new migrants arrived in Springfield over the last four years. Most of the immigrants are Haitians and are allowed to temporarily live and work in the country legally.
Trump is also wrong to say the immigrants were “placed” in the small midwestern city. After entering the U.S., immigrants choose where they move.
Falsehoods about immigration data
325,000 children are “missing”: Trump has misleadingly said, “Three hundred twenty-five thousand children are missing, dead, sex slaves or slaves.” This is a distortion of federal data about migrant children. An August federal oversight report about children arriving at the southwest border alone and released from federal government custody said that as of May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not served a “notice to appear” to more than 291,000 children. (A notice to appear is a charging document authorities issue and file in immigration court to start removal proceedings.)
The report said unaccompanied children “who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” The report neither states how many children have been trafficked nor says they’re missing or dead.
Harris has released thousands of criminals into the U.S.: Trump has said Harris “let in 13,099 convicted murderers.” That’s False and misconstrues Immigration and Customs Enforcement data. There are 13,000 noncitizens convicted of homicide in the U.S. who are not in immigration detention. But the data represents people who entered the country in the past 40 years; there is no evidence they all entered under the Biden-Harris administration. And many people are not in immigration detention because they’re in law enforcement custody serving sentences.
21 million immigrants have illegally crossed the border under the Biden-Harris administration: Trump has repeatedly said 21 million people have crossed the U.S. border in the past three and a half years. That’s False. Immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border around 10.4 million times since January 2021. When accounting for congressional Republicans’ “got aways” estimate — people who border officials don’t stop — the number rises to about 12.4 million.
But encounters aren’t the same as admissions. Encounters represent events, so one person who tries to cross the border twice counts as two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let into the country. The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4.2 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals from January 2021 through June 2024.
Falsehoods about Harris
Harris said she wanted to abolish ICE: Trump has falsely said that Harris wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As a U.S. senator in 2018, Harris criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including one that led to family separations at the border. In that context, Harris said Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s function should be reexamined and that “we need to probably even think about starting from scratch.” But she didn’t say there shouldn’t be immigration enforcement. In 2018, Harris also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a role and should exist.
Biden named Harris ‘border czar’ and put her in charge of border security: Trump has misrepresented Harris’ immigration role in the Biden administration. Biden did not name Harris “border czar.” In March 2021, Biden tasked Harris to work with officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to address the issues driving people to leave those countries and come to the United States. The Biden-Harris administration said it would focus on five key issues: economic insecurity, corruption, human rights, criminal gang violence and gender-based violence. Biden did not task Harris with controlling who and how many people enter the southern U.S. border. That’s the Homeland Security secretary’s responsibility.
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.
