During the second night of the Republican National Convention, illegal immigration took center stage with claims made by various speakers. Let's examine some of the assertions:
Claim 1:
A video narrator stated that President Joe Biden encouraged illegal immigrants to surge the border. The video clip was taken out of context from a 2019 Democratic debate where Biden discussed asylum seekers deserving to be heard and the need for border surges due to changing circumstances.
Claim 2:
Another claim suggested that Biden's policies led to 300,000 American deaths from fentanyl brought in through the border. However, data shows that the majority of fentanyl trafficking crimes are committed by U.S. citizens. While border seizures have increased under Biden, this trend began before his presidency.
Claim 3:
Senator Ted Cruz asserted that Americans are being murdered, assaulted, and raped by illegal immigrants released by Democrats daily. While there have been high-profile crimes involving individuals in the U.S. illegally, overall crime rates among this population are lower than native-born citizens and legal immigrants, according to studies.
Contrary to the claims made, FBI statistics do not show a spike in crime by migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border or in cities with high migrant influxes. Studies indicate that individuals living in the U.S. illegally are less likely to be arrested for violent, drug, and property crimes compared to native-born Americans.
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