Fact check: How many immigrants entered the US under bidens first term

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available analyses, the number of immigrants who entered the US during Biden's first term involves several distinct categories and measurement methods:

Border Encounters and Illegal Crossings:

• 7.2 million illegal migrants were confirmed by US Border Patrol trying to cross the US-Mexico border between January 2021 and January 2024 ^[1]
• 8.6 million migrant encounters occurred at the U.S.-Mexico border from January 2021 through October 2024, though many were repeat crossers ^[2]

Legal Immigration and Asylum Seekers:

• 5.8 million asylum seekers and other migrants were paroled in or allowed to enter the US to pursue asylum or other immigration cases during the Biden administration ^{[3] [2]}
• 532,000 individuals arrived via the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole process as of October 2024 ^[2]

Overall Immigration Activity:

The Biden administration implemented 605 immigration-related executive actions during its nearly four years in office, significantly outpacing the 472 actions from the first Trump administration ^[3]. The administration also provided temporary protection and work authorization to hundreds of thousands of migrants through programs like DACA and Temporary Protected Status ^[4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several crucial contextual elements:

Definitional Clarity: The question doesn't distinguish between legal immigrants, asylum seekers, unauthorized border crossers, and temporary migrants. These categories have vastly different legal statuses and implications ^{[1] [3] [2]}.

Repeat Crossers: The border encounter numbers include many repeat crossers, meaning the actual number of unique individuals is lower than the total encounter figure ^[2].

Historical Perspective: The unauthorized immigrant population grew to 11.0 million in 2022, with increases from nearly every region of the world from 2019 to 2022, suggesting immigration pressures existed before and continued during Biden's term ^[5].

Public Opinion Context: Despite high immigration numbers, a record-high 79% of US adults say immigration is a good thing for the country according to Gallup polling ^[6].

Methodological Improvements: The US Census Bureau significantly revised its migration estimates, reporting 2.8 million net migrants between 2023-2024 alone, largely due to improved methodology using administrative data ^[7].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question, while seemingly neutral, contains potential for misinterpretation:

Oversimplification: By asking for a single number of "immigrants," the question conflates different legal categories and processes. Immigration advocacy groups would benefit from emphasizing legal pathways and humanitarian protections, while immigration restriction advocates would benefit from focusing on unauthorized crossings and total encounter numbers.

Missing Policy Context: The question ignores that Biden's administration took 535 immigration actions over three years, representing "the most active immigration presidency yet" according to policy analysts ^[4]. This context is crucial for understanding whether the numbers reflect policy choices or external pressures.

Temporal Framing: The question focuses solely on Biden's term without acknowledging that immigration patterns often reflect global conditions, economic factors, and policies inherited from previous administrations. Political opponents would benefit from attributing all immigration increases to Biden's policies, while supporters would benefit from emphasizing inherited challenges and humanitarian obligations.

The data shows that immigration during Biden's first term involved millions of people across multiple categories, but the exact number depends heavily on which populations are counted and how they're categorized.