Trump runs fake ads, and one of his latest ones involves a claim that he has cut undocumented immigration in half. Fact-checkers have pointed out that this is not even close to being true, which is no surprise considering that the claim comes from an appearance on FOX News by the Trump Administration’s own Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of USCIS and an extremist who is currently gunning for the top position at the Department of Homeland Security.
Here’s what is true: the Trump Administration has wreaked havoc on the lives of immigrants, and to the American ideal of being a welcoming country of immigrants. From child separation to mass deportations, here’s Trump’s real record on immigration, by the numbers. It isn’t pretty:
- 5,400+: children separated from their families at the border, a number that keeps rising as the Trump Administration periodically admits to separating more children than previously known.
- 7: number of children who have died in CBP detention, after not immediately being treated for symptoms or for being held for extended periods of time.
- 29: approximate number of adults who have died in ICE custody during the Trump Administration.
- 660,880: number of active DACA recipients as of June 2019, a declining number since Trump’s 2017 attempt to end DACA means that no new applicants can obtain status.
- 318,160: approximate total number of TPS holders in the US, who would be in danger of deportation if TPS is ended.
- 18,000: The Administration set a ceiling of just 18,000 refugees in 2020. In comparison, 85,000 refugees were admitted in FY 2016 alone.
- $3.6 billion: dollars Trump is diverting from military projects in order to build his border wall.
- $21.6 billion: total cost of border wall, as estimated by a 2017 internal Department of Homeland Security report, though other estimates are as high as $60 billion.
- 75%: a record-high percentage of Americans who think immigration is a good thing, according to a 2018 Gallup poll; this number has been steadily rising throughout Trump’s presidency.
- 60%: percentage of Americans who disapprove of Trump’s job performance on immigration; 38% approve.
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