Fact check: Immigration
Trump argued there was "a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction to communities all across our land."
The reality is that there is no evidence that points to a major surge in crime caused by recent arrivals, and Trump's claims ignore the fact that overall, crime is down across the country.
Violent crimes were down 6% in the fourth quarter of 2023 (through December 2023) compared to the same time frame last year, according to the latest FBI statistics. There was a 13% decline in murders, and a 4% drop in property crimes across the country, the data showed.
That declining trend followed unprecedented spikes in 2019 and 2020, Trump's last two years in office, stats showed.
U.S. Citizens also commit crimes at higher rates than undocumented immigrants.
A 2020 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed U.S.-born citizens "are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes" than undocumented immigrants.
