Donald Trump has repeated falsehoods on immigration throughout the 2024 campaign. Here are the facts. – Poynter

Millions of immigrants come to the US from foreign prisons and mental institutions. Immigrants drive up US crime rates. Immigrants destroy social security. Non-citizens vote illegally in federal elections. Immigrants are taking jobs in the US.

This is just a sampling of the false and misleading claims on immigration that former President Donald Trump has repeated during the 2024 presidential race.

As in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, this campaign Trump stoked voters’ fears by using immigrants as a scapegoat for what he sees as the problems facing the US. And as in the past, his statements on immigration were full of misinformation.

Here are the facts behind eleven of his most repeated immigration lies.

Foreign countries that send criminals to the US: trump card has repeatedly alleged that countries are “emptying their jails and prisons” and sending millions of people to immigrate illegally to the US. Pants on fire! Exist no evidence this is what happens.

Trump incorrectly cited a decline in Venezuela crime rate as proof of this phenomenon. Although Venezuelan government data is unreliable, some data from independent organizations show that violent deaths in that country have recently declined. 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, too fixed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he repeats the claim. Not only is there no evidence that the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is emptying its prisons or mental institutions, but the border of US immigration officials meetings with Congolese are minimal. They represent less than 0.03% of total meetings from fiscal year 2021 to June 2024

Redirecting Hurricane Aid to Immigrants: In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Trump did Pants on fire! claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is taking disaster relief money to illegally spend on US immigrants. But FEMA funding for migrants does not come at the expense of disaster relief. Neither of FEMA’s two migrant programs use 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 US illegally affect Social Security: Trump has falsely said that immigration hurts Social Security. The key threat for Social Security’s long-term viability is a shortage of workers putting their tax dollars into the system, along with a growing number of retirement-age Americans qualifying for benefits. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are not eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, but estimates they found they pay billions of dollars in Social Security taxes annually. This helps – not hurts – the solvency of the program.

Democrats Bring Migrants to US as Voters: In January, Trump said Democrats were letting migrants into the U.S. and registering them to vote in federal elections. That’s it Pants on fire! There is no evidence for this scheme. Only US citizens can vote in federal elections, and proven incidents of non-citizens voting are rare. It can take years for newly arrived immigrants to be eligible to receive asylum or other permanent legal status, and then more years to be eligible to apply for citizenship.

Haitian immigrants eat pets or geese: Trump has amplified this false narrative that I have assessed Pants on fire! Local officials say there’s no evidence it’s happening. Despite the checks, Trump did it it persistedsaying he was repeating what was “reported”. Local and national news outlets debunked the baseless narrative.

There are 30,000 immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and they are here illegally: Speaking of Springfield, Ohio, Trump did incorrect said “30,000 illegal migrants were put into a city of 50,000”. Springfield had 58,000 people in it 2020 census. City officials said 12,000 to 20,000 new migrants have arrived in Springfield in the past four years. Most of the immigrants are Haitian and are allowed to live and work temporarily in the country legal.

Trump is also wrong when he says immigrants were “placed” in the small Midwestern town. After entering the US, immigrants choose where to move.

325,000 children are “missing”: Trump has misleadingly said, “Three hundred and twenty-five thousand children are missing, dead, sex slaves or slaves.” This is one deformation of federal data on migrant children. A federal surveillance since August report about children arriving unaccompanied at the Southwest border and released from federal custody, said that as of May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not issued a “notice to appear” for more than 291,000 children. (A notice to appear is a charging document authorities issue and file in immigration court to begin removal proceedings.)

The report says unaccompanied children “who do not appear in court are considered to be at greater risk of trafficking, exploitation or forced labour”. The report does not say how many children were trafficked, nor does it say that they are missing or dead.

Harris freed thousands of criminals in the US: Trump said Harris “let in 13,099 convicted felons.” That’s it False and misinterprets immigration and customs enforcement data. There are 13,000 non-citizens convicted of homicide in the US who are not in immigration detention. But the data represents people who entered the country in the last 40 years; there is no evidence that they all came under the Biden-Harris administration. And many people are not in immigration detention because they are in police custody and serving sentences.

21 million immigrants crossed the border illegally under the Biden-Harris administration: Trump has done it repeatedly said 21 million people have crossed the US border in the past three and a half years. That’s it False. Immigration officials have encountered immigrants crossing the US border illegally about 10.4 million times since January 2021. When factoring in the “kickouts” by congressional Republicans estimate — people who are on the border don’t stop — the number rises to about 12.4 million.

But meetings I’m not the same as admissions. Encounters are events, so a person attempting to cross the border twice counts as two encounters. Also, not everyone they meet is allowed into the country. Department of Homeland Security appraisal approximately 4.2 million encounters resulted in expulsions or removals from January 2021 to June 2024.

Harris said he wanted to abolish ICE: Trump has falsely said Harris wants to dismantle Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As a US senator in 2018, Harris criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including one that led to the separation of families at the border. In that context, Harris said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement function should be re-examined and that “we probably have to think about starting from scratch.” But she did not say there should be no immigration action. In 2018, Harris also said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a role and should have one.

Biden called Harris the “border czar” and put her in charge of border security: Trump has misrepresent Harris’ immigration role in the Biden administration. Biden he didn’t he calls Harris the “frontier czar.” In March 2021, Biden RESPONSIBLE Harris to work with officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to address the issue problems causing 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, gang violence and gender-based violence. Biden did not task Harris with controlling who and how many people enter the US southern border. This is the responsibility of the Secretary of Homeland Security.

This fact check was initially published by PolitiFactwhich is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check Here.