"The last administration let in 20 million unknown and unvetted foreigners from all over the world," Donald Trump stated in his remarks.

Original publisher’s rating

DW Fact check: False While immigration numbers have surged under Biden, Trump's figures are far from reality. According to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, based on official data, including the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as of July 2024, "more than 5.8 million migrants had been paroled into the country or otherwise allowed entry to pursue asylum applications and other immigration cases." Since Biden took office in January 2021, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recorded about 10.8 million encounters nationwide, the Homeland Security Committee reported. However, these are not unique individuals — many were counted multiple times. The Pew Research Center estimatesthe "unauthorized immigrant" population in the US reached 14 million in 2023, up by 3.5 million during Biden's first two years, the largest on record. Growth slowed significantly in the second half of 2024 after the Biden administration halted asylum processing at the border and suspended parole programs. Even when combined with the estimated number of legal immigrants, the total does not approach 20 million.

Reviewed by Deutsche Welle ↗ · November 28, 2025