It was more if you count ( Getaways , Visa Overstayers , Refugees …
Well, no, not nearly.
During the 2024 US campaign season, numerous false or misleading statements have been made about immigration which deserve correction.
cmsny.org
Assertion: There are 15-20 million undocumented immigrants living in the country.
Response: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has asserted that his deportation plan would remove
15-20 million undocumented persons from the country. This is strongly overstated. According to
estimates from the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS), 10.9 million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States, based on Census Bureau and American Community Service (ACS) data. Other organizations, including the Department of Homeland Security, have produced
similar estimates.
Moreover, over 40 percent of the undocumented population in the country are individuals who have
overstayed their visas, not entered through the US-Mexico border. Finally, while the number of undocumented in the country increased by 650,000 from 2020-2022, other undocumented individuals and families, especially from
Mexico and Asian countries, have been leaving the United States.
Assertion: More than 10 million undocumented immigrants have flooded across our border during the Biden administration, while the Trump administration saw the lowest number of crossings in United States history.
Response: This is a misleading statement, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) characterizes border crossings as “
encounters,” when migrants are encountered by the Border Patrol and can be returned. According to DHS, over
4 million of migrants encountered have been returned and
20-25 percent encountered are repeat offenders, severely lowering the total amount during the Biden administration.
In addition, the asylum-seekers who have been released into the country lawfully, having been vetted and processed by DHS and given a notice to appear for court proceedings. The number of migrants who have crossed undetected into the United States is much
lower.
Annual apprehensions at the border increased nearly
15 percent under President Trump until the border was closed under Title 42 in 2020. Moreover, the Trump administration released a
higher percentage of migrants into the country than the Biden administration, by 52.2 percent to 48.6 percent over a two-year period.