Former President Donald Trump made some outrageous claims in a recent interview with Fox News, where he discussed his administration’s many accomplishments on immigration and border enforcement. Many of these statements are false or highly misleading, so we fact-check some below with actual data and context.
Trump’s Phone Call to President Xi on Immigration
Trump claimed that during his term as President he had a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping where he (Trump) insisted that Xi stop sending immigrants through the southern border of the U.S., or else there would be dire consequences. There is no evidence or documentation for this claim whatsoever. Moreover, it is doubtful as immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border consists mostly of migrants from Latin America, not China. Thus, this story is another fabrication in the style that Trump often exaggerates.
Assertions on Building a Border Wall
Trump asserted that he built 571 miles of wall in office. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other credible sources say that as of 2017 before Trump was inaugurated, 654 miles of fencing of various types already existed along the border. These existing barriers stretched across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Trump claims that during his presidency, 452 miles of wall were constructed. However, only 80 miles were new barriers in places where there was previously no fence at all. The other 372 miles were parts of the existing fencing that had been replaced, constructed during previous administrations. Trump claims that these 372 miles were also new construction because he considered the older barriers “old and worthless.” But this is a very stretchable and misleading argument since replacing an existing wall obviously differs from constructing a new fence where none existed.
The funding for the border wall was a significant source of conflict during Trump’s presidency. Trump initially asked Congress for $18 billion, which was never appropriated. So, he declared a national emergency and took about $15 billion from other government departments, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, to fund the wall’s construction.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Mexico would pay for the wall, but there is no evidence. Trump often said that a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada would save the U.S. money that could be used to build the wall. However, the question of how and why Mexico would pay for a wall as part of a trade deal remains highly mysterious and needs to be clarified.
Immigration Numbers During Trump’s Presidency
Trump stated that he presided over the lowest immigration numbers in years that in fact, during the last week of his presidency, zero legal immigrants were allowed entry. Although 2020 experienced a drastic decline in immigration, it was primarily because of COVID-19. As the virus spread across the globe, governments shut their borders entirely or implemented travel bans to prevent spread.
Migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border now hail from more countries than ever. In 2019, the busiest year for border crossings since Trump took office, around 80 per cent of migrants apprehended by U.S. authorities came from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Last year, those three countries comprised less than half of all border crossings. Migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Senegal, and Mauritania – and other countries from Africa, Europe and Asia – are arriving from Mexico than ever before seen by U.S. authorities. For instance, 14,965 migrants from China were apprehended across the southern border from October to December, according to Border Patrol data, up from 29 during that same period in 2020. Border Patrol stopped 9,518 migrants from India during that same three-month period, versus 56 in 2020.
What is Title 42?
Title 42 is what Trump used during the pandemic to quickly return border crossers without processing them to seek asylum. It is still in effect under Biden until May 2023. Although Biden had higher returns, it was because of the higher flow of illegal crossings. Under Trump, almost everyone who entered the United States was returned, and border crossings were still low.
Migrant Encounters Vs. Deportations
Biden’s policy focuses on deporting serious criminals as well as those who recently crossed the border, as opposed to Trump’s broader immigration enforcement agenda. Since the termination of Title 42 in May, Biden officials have sent or deported about 500,000 people to Mexico and other countries, surpassing Trump’s totals, which averaged about 500,000 a year. However, Mr. Biden’s higher totals are partly a result of a much larger volume of illegal crossings. The Biden administration has released more than 2.3 million border crossers into the United States since 2021. The disparity between the number of migrants taken into CBP custody versus the number of people who are sent back or deported has grown each of the last three years.
On the first day of his presidency, Biden ordered his administration to halt most arrests and deportations from inside the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Trump pledged to deport “millions” of immigrants during his presidency but never came close to achieving that aim, despite the extraordinary leeway he gave ICE officers to target anyone in the United States who was here without legal status. Migrant deportations by ICE averaged about 80,000 per year during the Trump Administration. Biden’s Department of Homeland Security issued new ICE guidelines in 2021 to direct ICE officers to focus on those posing a national security threat, severe or violent criminals, and recent border crossers. Worksite enforcement – “raids” – were ended. Migrant deportations by ICE have plummeted to about 35,000 per year since Biden’s inauguration. Biden officials claim they are simply doing a better job of focusing on criminals who threaten public safety rather than detained immigrant workers who are otherwise law-abiding.
Drug Crisis During Trump’s Presidency
Trump asserted his administration had cut cartels off from drug trafficking by 19 to 20%. But statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) rose during Trump’s presidency. Drug overdose death rates from synthetic opioids (except methadone) rose 192%, from 19,500 to 56,894 per year between 2016 and 2020.
The Trump administration’s closure in March 2020 of U.S. ports of entry to nonessential travel to curb the COVID-19 pandemic had the perverse effect of accelerating the drug traffickers’ shift to fentanyl, a more efficient drug than heroin, which helped to produce the rise in drug overdose deaths. The weight of fentanyl seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection increased tenfold from December 2019 to December 2020. Despite fentanyl’s inherent economic advantage, it took massive restrictions on imports and travel to force U.S.-Mexico border traffickers to switch from heroin to fentanyl. CDC statistics reveal substantial month-to-month increases in the 12-month moving average of drug overdose deaths from synthetic opioids in April, May, June, July, and August 2020, extending through the rest of the calendar year.
Some Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee questioned David Bier of the Cato Institute for testifying that the pandemic restrictions drove the rise in fentanyl trafficking. Bier testified that asylum seekers are the least likely individuals to carry fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border because they immediately turn themselves into Border Patrol Agents or request asylum, when allowed, at ports of entry. A more orderly process for people seeking protection would free up law enforcement resources. Democratic committee members established during questioning that the vast majority (93%) of fentanyl is seized at ports of entry or checkpoints – not between ports of entry by Border Patrol agents. Furthermore, Democratic members testified that those convicted for smuggling fentanyl are primarily U.S. citizens (86%).
Immigration Does Not Cause Drug Overdoses
Trump frequently used the issue of immigration as a link to increased drug trafficking and drug overdose deaths. However, researchers say that immigrants are actually less likely to be involved in drug trafficking and more likely to report drug problems to authorities. Counties with more immigrants actually have lower rates of overdoses. A study published in 2018 looked at the relationship between immigration and drug deaths. It concluded that “policies aimed at curbing the immigrant flow to the United States to prevent drug trafficking and overdose would clearly be misguided.”
Professors Ben Feldmeyer (University of Cincinnati), Diana Sun (Florida Atlantic University), Casey T. Harris (University of Arkansas), and Francis T. Cullen (University of Cincinnati) tested the relationship between the presence of immigrants and rates of drug homicides and overdoses. They analyzed annual county-level data between the years 2000 and 2015. The authors found that for every one-percentage-point increase in an area’s foreign-born (immigrant) population, a county’s overdose rate declined by 4.5%. The authors estimate that a 10-percentage-point increase in a county’s foreign-born population would result in about a 40% to 50% lower overdose death rate overall and for almost each of the particular substances tested, net of controls.
The evidence clearly shows that keeping the immigration doors shut will not lower the death toll from drug overdoses. In fact, the data show that the prohibition of most traffic passing through the ports of entry between the United States and Mexico in 2020 under President Trump’s watch likely incentivized drug traffickers to shift from heroin to fentanyl and thus contributed to the rise in synthetic opioid deaths in America.
Conclusion
The statements in Trump’s recent interview on immigration and border control are riddled with inaccuracies and misleading assertions. The correct data and context are a more accurate representation of reality during Trump’s presidency. This analysis highlights how misleading political rhetoric can be when it comes to the issues of immigration and border militarization. It is always important to critically think about the information being presented by those in power. Moving forward in this conversation, we must ground our understanding of inaccurate data and facts rather than propaganda or distorted narratives.
Nothing new there.
Trump lying is still news? Why?
If the media would only cover trump when he tells the truth…we’d never hear from him again.
If only the media talking heads would call him out on his bull shut, but it’s all just sensationalism, and in that regard, Donald Trump is a paycheck.
“Misleads”? He’s a pathological liar.
And that was just what he pulled through the White House pharmacy!