Biden Blames Trump For Border Crisis, Claims Border More Secure Under His Admin Than Trump’s. That’s A Lie.

During his late-night address to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday night, President Joe Biden blamed former President Donald Trump and Republicans for the record-breaking crisis at the southern border. The president also claimed the border is now more secure under the Biden-Harris regime than it was under Trump, due to Biden’s executive actions. 

The claims do not align with the facts, however. Here’s what you need to know:

What President Biden said during his DNC address  

When Biden took office, he immediately worked to undo effective Trump-era border measures, spurring the biggest border crisis in American history. Still, on Monday night, Biden blamed Trump for the crisis for not supporting widely criticized border legislation.

“Trump continues to lie about the border,” Biden said Monday night. “Here’s what he won’t tell you: Trump killed the strongest bipartisan border deal in the history of the United States.”

Biden also claimed credit for a recent dip in border encounter numbers, which do not include some migrant children and the Biden parole program.

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“Then I had to take executive action,” Biden said. “The result of the executive action I took, border encounters have dropped over 50%. In fact, there are fewer border crossings today than when Donald Trump left office.”

Fact-Check: Illegal immigration has hit record numbers under President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris

Under Biden and Harris, border apprehensions have hit an all-time high, averaging around 2 million per year. Further, that estimate does not include “gotaways” – the illegal immigrants who are seen crossing the border but never apprehended – or the more than 1 million parole migrants. Last year, the number of observed “gotaways” under Biden and Harris was estimated at 1.7 million, and is certainly higher now. For perspective, the 1.7 million figure is higher than the number of “gotaways” recorded in an entire decade, from 2010 to 2020. 

The total number of encounters under the Biden-Harris administration is expected to reach 10 million by the end of this fiscal year. 

Notably, at least 372 individuals caught crossing the border illegally have been identified to be on the terror watch list. 

There is also the issue of fentanyl illegally pouring into the U.S. Just last year, nearly 75,000 Americans died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the CDC. 

Critics say Biden’s recent executive action is not the reason for the recent dip in border encounters

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced in July that encounters were 32% lower than they were in June 2024, and were the “lowest monthly total along the southwest border since September 2020.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has claimed credit for the recent improvement at the border. Abbott was forced into launching Operation Lone Star after he said Biden refused to enforce immigration law. Notably, Biden is fighting Abbott in court for working to secure the border.

Panel installation on the Texas border wall continues in Starr County.

Texas won’t back down from the fight to keep America safe from the border crisis Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created.

We will add even MORE miles of border wall. pic.twitter.com/FDPPDfYtnZ

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 19, 2024

The president of the Arizona Sheriff’s Association, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, recently spoke about the numbers, saying they have more to do with Mexico stemming the tide than the Biden orders. He notably criticized the feds for their lack of support.

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“They see the same thing all the time,” Sheriff Rhodes said. “You know, a complete lack of resources on the border, a lack of federal resources, a lack of federal involvement. The sheriffs don’t believe that the executive orders are the reason for this drop off in numbers.”

“The idea that those executive orders are issued and then, you know, within a matter of weeks, the numbers are or are down without any intervention from the country of Mexico, is highly implausible and improbable,” the sheriff added. “We’re hoping that that cooperation extends beyond the general election in November.”

Republicans have blocked the Democrat-led ‘border bill’ – but because they said the bill ‘codifies’ Biden’s ‘open border’ policies. 

Republicans have twice blocked a supposed border security bill that they argue helps to cement Biden’s border policies, which are causing the issues at the border in the first place. For example, the bill expands work authorizations for illegal immigrants, includes language tantamount to the widely criticized “catch and release” policy, and doesn’t address Biden’s unprecedented expansion of the migrant parole program. 

In a joint statement, top Republicans said the bill fails to include “critical asylum reforms” and allows “illegals to be ‘released from physical custody.’” 

“The so-called ‘shutdown’ authority in the bill is anything but, riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,” the statement continued. “The bill also fails to adequately stop the President’s abuse of parole authority and provides for taxpayer funds to fly and house illegal immigrants in hotels through the FEMA Shelter and Services Program.”

Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, urged Republicans to block the bill, highlighting that the legislation was tied to foreign aid and only gives “border emergency authority” after there have been thousands of encounters per day. 

“Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5,000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done,” Trump posted to Truth Social. 

“This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party,” he continued. “It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”

“Don’t be STUPID!!!” Trump wrote. “We need a separate Border and Immigration Bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape, or form! The Democrats broke Immigration and the Border. They should fix it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

What Trump and Republicans want passed/implemented to stem the tide of illegals 

Republicans have urged Democrats to pass H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, which would, in part, implement Trump-era policy to help secure the border. For example, H.R. 2 would increase the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents, reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and resume the construction of the physical border wall. 

Below are highlights of the bill: 

• requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume activities to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border;
• provides statutory authorization for Operation Stonegarden, which provides grants to law enforcement agencies for certain border security operations;
• prohibits DHS from processing the entry of non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) arriving between ports of entry;
• limits asylum eligibility to non-U.S. nationals who arrive in the United States at a port of entry;
• authorizes the removal of a non-U.S. national to a country other than that individual’s country of nationality or last lawful habitual residence, whereas currently this type of removal may only be to a country that has an agreement with the United States for such removal;
• expands the types of crimes that may make an individual ineligible for asylum, such as a conviction for driving while intoxicated causing another person’s serious bodily injury or death;
• authorizes DHS to suspend the introduction of certain non-U.S. nationals at an international border if DHS determines that the suspension is necessary to achieve operational control of that border;
• prohibits states from imposing licensing requirements on immigration detention facilities used to detain minors;
• authorizes immigration officers to permit an unaccompanied alien child to withdraw their application for admission into the United States even if the child is unable to make an independent decision to withdraw the application;
• imposes additional penalties for overstaying a visa; and
• requires DHS to create an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after the E-Verify system and requires all employers to use the system.