Fact check: Illegal immigration numbers under biden

1. Summary of the results

The analyses reveal that illegal immigration encounters under the Biden administration reached historically high levels. According to official data, there were over 10.8 million encounters nationwide since the start of Fiscal Year 2021, including over 8.72 million at the Southwest border ^[1]. Another source confirms that over 10 million encounters occurred since January 2021, describing these as "record highs" ^[2].

However, the data shows significant variation over time. While encounters reached peak levels, recent months have seen a substantial drop in border crossings ^[2]. The Biden administration implemented various policy measures including a presidential proclamation and rule to restrict asylum eligibility and increase consequences for illegal entry ^[3], as well as a "carrot and stick" approach combining legal pathways with strict penalties ^[4].

In contrast, the Trump administration claims to have achieved a 93% decrease in daily border encounters and a 99.99% decrease in migrant crossings during their tenure ^[5], though this source doesn't provide direct numerical comparisons to Biden-era figures.

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original query lacks several crucial contextual elements:

• Policy complexity: The Biden administration's approach involved both continuing Title 42 policies and implementing new asylum restrictions ^{[4] [3]}, contradicting narratives that suggest purely open-border policies.
• Legal immigration expansion: While focusing on illegal crossings, the analyses show Biden took steps to increase legal immigration and provide humanitarian protection to certain groups ^[6], including proposing an eight-year path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants ^[7].
• Systemic challenges: The border situation involves complexities beyond simple policy changes, with various factors contributing to migration patterns ^[2].
• State and local impact: The analyses indicate that state and local governments significantly influenced immigration policy implementation ^[6], suggesting the federal numbers don't tell the complete story.

Political beneficiaries of emphasizing high illegal immigration numbers include:

• Republican politicians and conservative organizations who benefit from portraying Biden's policies as failures
• The House Committee on Homeland Security and similar oversight bodies that gain influence by documenting crisis scenarios ^[8]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement presents several potential issues:

• Lacks specificity: Simply asking about "illegal immigration numbers" without defining metrics (encounters vs. actual illegal entries vs. deportations) can lead to misleading interpretations.
• Missing temporal context: The query doesn't acknowledge that encounters dropped significantly in recent months ^[2], potentially creating an incomplete picture of current trends.
• Omits policy nuance: The framing ignores that the Biden administration implemented both restrictive and expansive immigration measures ^{[3] [6]}, suggesting a more complex policy landscape than simple pro- or anti-immigration stances.
• Potential cherry-picking: Focusing solely on illegal immigration numbers while ignoring legal immigration increases and comprehensive reform efforts ^{[6] [7]} may present a biased view of overall immigration policy impact.

The House Committee on Homeland Security report explicitly argues that Biden administration policies led to "devastating consequences, including increased crime and deaths" ^[8], representing a partisan perspective that benefits from maintaining focus on negative immigration statistics.