Washington – As Donald Trump makes vile, anti-immigrant lies the centerpiece of his closing argument, the relentless focus on xenophobic messages at his rallies and in his interviews also includes another sort of fiction. In addition to the falsehoods about immigrants, Trump is intent to make up an alternate version of his real first-term record when it comes to immigration and the border.
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, said:
“The real Trump immigration record is one of cruelty, chaos, and failure. He helped dismantle our immigration system, slashed legal immigration by 2/3, presided over the moral stain of family separation, and tried to end the DACA program for Dreamers. And even on his signature border and border wall applause lines, his real record was one of wastefulness and ineffectiveness. As he makes his closing argument all about immigration, don’t forget to recognize that his attempts to whitewash his own history are part of the litany of falsehoods.”
Reminders of Trump’s REAL First Term Immigration & Border Record
When he tries to claim the border was “secure” during Trump’s term and touts his border wall, remember the real record:
- Trump’s wasteful and ineffective border wall – As the Washington Post report, “Trump’s border wall has been breached more than 3,000 times by smugglers, CBP records show,” highlighted in 2022 – Trump’s wall was a corrupt boondoggle and colossal waste of tax-payer money – a $15 billion boondoggle hat could be cut through with a $15 dollar hand saw.
- Border encounters under Trump spiked – Throughout 2019 under Trump, border encounters were the highest in more than a decade, spiking to about triple the totals of when he took office. And in December 2020 – in Trump’s final full month as president – border encounters were at the highest level for a December in more than two decades and had been rising for months. Global migration is complicated and border numbers – under Trump and under Biden – remind us why we need a full immigration overhaul from Congress to address 21st century migration, but that Trump and Republicans keep blocking a legislative fix.
When Trump tries to whitewash other parts of his first term immigration record:
- Trump’s first term on immigration was a cruel and chaotic failure (see deep dive here).
- He dismantled our immigration system – the asylum process, visa channels, the refugee program, among others – which has contributed to the broken system we see today.
- His cruel and chaotic and counterproductive first-term policies included:
- The moral stain of family separation and taking toddlers from their parents at the border;
- Banning Muslim and African families from entering America, even with approved visas;
- Attacking legal and lawful immigration and slashing new arrivals to the U.S. precipitously by nearly 2/3;
- Ugly attacks on popular and successful policies like the DACA program for Dreamers.
