During last night's address, @realDonaldTrump said: "In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings." These numbers need context:
@realDonaldTrump It's true, during the last two years, ICE officials arrested 266,000 people. But, ICE reports note that each arrest "may represent multiple criminal charges and convictions." A single person could have committed multiple crimes.
@realDonaldTrump The Pew Research Center made the same point: "The total number of charges and convictions is greater than the total number of arrestees," the center noted in a February 2018 report.
@realDonaldTrump Plus, Trump spoke of both charges and convictions. By folding them together, the numbers look bigger, but a charge doesn’t mean that a person is guilty. Plus, ICE also notes that past convictions get included in each year’s tally.
It's worth noting that the majority of the ICE arrests take place away from the border, and the high number of people arrested who have criminal records has a lot to do with where ICE encounters most immigrants.
Here are more of our fact-checks related to criminal activity by undocumented immigrants in the U.S.:
In Sept, Republican @kenpaxtontx, invoked previously debunked numbers when asked about Democrats seeking to decriminalize border crossings. He said Texas has "had over 600,000 crimes committed by illegals since 2011. Over 1,200 homicides." Pants on Fire: politifact.com/texas/statemen…
@KenPaxtonTX Candidate for California Governor Antonio Villaraigosa said "Undocumented immigrants commit less crimes than the native born." @CAPolitiFact rated this Mostly True: politifact.com/california/sta…
@KenPaxtonTX @CAPolitiFact See all of our recent fact-checks on immigration: politifact.com/subjects/immig…
And read our roundup of fact-checks from last night's presidential address: politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
And read our roundup of fact-checks from last night's presidential address: politifact.com/truth-o-meter/…
