Fact check: Trump says 425,000 criminal migrants entered the US under Biden

Donald Trump called for more immigration rhetoric during a rally in Tempe, Arizona this week, claiming that countries are “dumping” their citizens to the United States and calling the U.S. a “dumpster for the world.”

The former president, who is leading in the battleground state according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll average analysis, stoked fears and misleading claims about illegal migrants.

Trump claimed, among other things, that nearly half a million “criminal aliens” entered the country during the Biden administration.

The claim

At a rally in Tempe, Arizona on October 24, 2024, Donald Trump said: “425,000 convicted criminal aliens have been released.” in our country in the last three and a half years. Remember: 425,000.”

The facts

This statistic is false and reinforces a similarly false claim that Trump has made throughout the campaign, namely that 13,099 “murderers” entered the country during the Biden administration.

The figures are based on a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent to Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales on September 25, 2024, which lists non-citizens, including 425,431 who were “not detained.” .

Gonzales published the letter in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 non-citizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national file – 13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!” Gonzales wrote.

“Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities.”

However, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on September 29, 2024 that the data went back decades and included detained non-citizens.

“The data in this letter is being misinterpreted,” the Department of Homeland Security said.

“The data goes back decades; they include people who have entered the country in the last 40 years or more, and the majority of custody decisions were made long before this administration.”

“This includes many who are under the jurisdiction of, or are currently incarcerated by, federal, state or local law enforcement agencies.”

A 2023 ICE budget report shows that as of June 5, 2021, just months into the Biden presidency, “405,786 convicted criminal noncitizens were on the non-detained list.”

The letter sent to Gonzales added that while ICE officials could exercise their discretion to conditionally release non-citizens under certain circumstances, they did so on a “case-by-case basis,” taking into account “the circumstances of each individual case and in accordance with the law.” “were taken into account first and foremost”. Abscond risk, threat to national security and threat to public safety.”

“ICE also considers other factors, including whether a noncitizen has a serious illness, is the primary caregiver for minor children, or other humanitarian considerations.”

It added that it is “deporting and returning record numbers of migrants who cannot establish a legal basis to remain in the United States.”

Newsweek emailed a Donald Trump media representative for comment.

The verdict

INCORRECT.

This claim is incorrect. It is based on a misinterpreted letter that includes 40 years of data and includes imprisoned non-citizens. The claim is a follow-up to a similarly misleading claim Trump recently made about non-citizen murderers.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s fact checking team