Here’s how the United States has fared since President Joe Biden took office two years ago.
Biden’s Numbers, January 2023 Update
Issues: immigration
Misleading Attack About Democrats and Criminal Immigrants
Every Democrat – and some Republicans – increased funding earlier this year for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency charged with deporting those living in the country illegally. The Biden administration has directed ICE to prioritize the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally who have committed serious felonies. Nonetheless, an ad from a conservative group misleadingly claims that “every Senate Democrat voted against deporting criminal illegal immigrants.”
Ad Misleads on Percentage Increase in Fentanyl Seizures Under Biden
The overall increase in fentanyl seized at the southwest border under President Joe Biden is nowhere near as high as a Republican ad misleadingly claims. U.S. border officials seized 13,021 pounds of the drug in Biden’s first full 15 months in office, which is 70% more than the 7,677 pounds seized in Donald Trump’s last full 15 months as president.
Border Patrol Required to Provide Formula to Detained Infants
Q: Has the Biden administration sent “pallets” of infant formula to the border amid a nationwide shortage?
A: Yes. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that first encounters and then processes immigrants, is legally required to provide formula to infants in its care and has been doing so during the recent shortage.
Florida Video Shows Legal Migrant Workers, Not ‘Busloads of Illegals’
Dozens of people stayed at a Florida hotel in January while employed as temporary farmworkers for a wholesale plant nursery. But a Facebook video and a tweet by State Rep. Anthony Sabatini falsely claimed they were “illegals” — sparking a protest outside the hotel. Attorneys for the nursery said all of them had visas to work in the U.S.
Cotton Distorts Border Apprehension Impact
Sen. Tom Cotton falsely equated the nearly 2 million apprehensions of immigrants attempting to illegally cross the southern border during Joe Biden’s presidency to “adding the entire population of Nebraska to this country.” He’s wrong for several reasons, including that most of those apprehended were immediately turned around.
Migrants Not Responsible for Latest COVID-19 Surge
Infectious disease experts say low vaccination rates, resistance to protective measures such as wearing a mask and the highly transmissible delta variant are driving the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Tweets Misrepresent Border Data
There has been a monthslong rise in illegal border migration. But some Republicans overstate the number of people encountered by immigration officials crossing the border illegally.
Viral Claim Gets Biden’s COVID-19 Travel and Immigration Policies Wrong
The Biden administration hasn’t introduced COVID-19 travel restrictions on Americans going to Mexico since the delta variant became dominant in the U.S., and it is enforcing immigration laws at the border. But a meme falsely claiming the opposite is circulating online.
FactChecking Claims About Asylum Grants and Immigration Court Attendance
While discussing ways to quickly determine if people who cross into the U.S. through Mexico are eligible for asylum, Sen. Rob Portman claimed that “only about half of them even show up for their court cases” and “only 15% of them qualify” for asylum. But government statistics aren’t that clear-cut.