Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2024
Have 25 million undocumented immigrants entered the US and stayed during the Biden-Harris administration?
Authorities estimate the number of undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration and remained at far less than the 25 million that Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance claimed.
Vance said Aug. 28, 2024, in De Pere, Wisconsin:
“Kamala Harris let in 25 million illegal aliens … the 25 million people who are here in this country illegally.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 10 million migrant encounters — one person one or more times — from February 2021 through July 2024.
However, millions were turned away, returned or deported.
The nonprofit Migration Policy Institute estimates there were 6 million entries between January 2021 and April 2024.
Customs and Border Protection also estimated about 2 million “got-aways” — border crossers who evaded authorities — 385,707 in 2021, 737,244 in 2022, and 694,685 in 2023.
Vance’s spokesperson cited conservative media reports, including one saying there may have been 1 million got-aways in one year.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- WLUK-TV FOX 11 JD Vance rallies voters in Wisconsin
- US Customs and Border Protection Nationwide Encounters
- News release Chairman Green for RealClearPolitics: No, Biden and Harris’ Border Crisis Is Not Over
- USA Today No, 51M 'illegals' have not entered US under Biden, Harris | Fact check
- PolitiFact There aren’t 20 million to 30 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, as Sen. Marco Rubio claimed
- Google Docs Migration Policy Institute Aug. 29, 2024
- US Department of Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Justification
- US Department of Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2024 Congressional Justification
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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