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No.

Illegal immigration increased while Donald Trump was president. It did not decrease 90% as Wisconsin Republican Tony Wied claimed July 19, 2024.

Wied is running for the Green Bay-area U.S. House seat. His campaign cited a complicated chart on U.S.-Mexico border encounters that Trump has used at rallies, but did not identify what would back Wied’s claim.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has said his staff developed the chart and Trump modified it. Johnson’s office did not reply to questions.

News reports have repeatedly discredited Trump’s chart, noting the low point for border encounters was in April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southwest border encounters decreased 43% in 2017, the first year Trump was in office.

But they were higher in each of the next three years than in 2016, including 80% higher in 2019:

2016: 442,940.

2017: 250,838.

2018: 466,624.

2019: 799,674.

2020: 508,214.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

WLUK-TV FOX 11: 8th Congressional District Republican primary debate

Google Docs: Trump immigration chart cited by Wied campaign

X (formerly Twitter): Sen. Ron Johnson post

ABC News: Dissecting the immigration chart Trump says saved his life

FactCheck.org: Trump’s Misleading Chart on Illegal Immigration

Washington Post: A look at Trump’s misleading, inaccurate graph of U.S. immigration

New York Times: Fact-Checking the Immigration Chart That Trump Says ‘Saved My Life’

Google Docs: Monthly Southwest Border apprehensions under Trump

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Did illegal immigration drop 90% under Donald Trump?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
August 6, 2024

<h1>Did illegal immigration drop 90% under Donald Trump?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />August 6, 2024</p>

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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">No.</h2>
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<p>Illegal immigration increased while Donald Trump was president. It did not decrease 90% as Wisconsin Republican Tony Wied&nbsp;claimed&nbsp;July 19, 2024.</p>
<p>Wied is running for the Green Bay-area U.S. House seat. His campaign cited a complicated&nbsp;chart&nbsp;on U.S.-Mexico border encounters that Trump has&nbsp;used&nbsp;at rallies, but&nbsp;did not identify what would back Wied’s claim.</p>
<p>Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., has&nbsp;said&nbsp;his staff developed the chart and Trump modified it. Johnson’s office did not reply to questions.</p>
<p>News reports have repeatedly discredited Trump’s chart, noting the low point for border encounters was in April 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>Southwest border&nbsp;encounters&nbsp;decreased 43% in 2017, the first year Trump was in office.</p>
<p>But they were higher in each of the next three years than in 2016, including 80% higher in 2019:</p>
<p>2016: 442,940.</p>
<p>2017: 250,838.</p>
<p>2018: 466,624.</p>
<p>2019: 799,674.</p>
<p>2020: 508,214.</p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Iufuq8-TU&amp;t=1058s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>WLUK-TV FOX 11: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Iufuq8-TU&amp;t=1058s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">8th Congressional District Republican primary debate</a></p>
<p>Google Docs: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wNMC8-uJ3a1Og-g5ABaYqFbEmWAvHXNv-a9oGvjHDsE/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trump immigration chart cited by Wied campaign</a></p>
<p>X (formerly Twitter): <a href="https://x.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1812621430292422947?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1812621430292422947%7Ctwgr%5Ef524a5b06f19cdce77199f7075257f62a278bb9e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fcreator-immigration-chart-saved-trumps-life-from-would-be-assassin-credits-providence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sen. Ron Johnson post</a></p>
<p>ABC News: <a href="https://archive.is/d4hyQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dissecting the immigration chart Trump says saved his life</a></p>
<p>FactCheck.org: <a href="https://archive.is/NRKOz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trump’s Misleading Chart on Illegal Immigration</a></p>
<p>Washington Post: <a href="https://archive.is/GkMa2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A look at Trump’s misleading, inaccurate graph of U.S. immigration</a></p>
<p>New York Times: <a href="https://archive.is/o6hy8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fact-Checking the Immigration Chart That Trump Says ‘Saved My Life’</a></p>
<p>Google Docs: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15z7LTXNHW0J1V-Vzx2mDEapR3GR1ssCcrwk2rNy2ed4/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monthly Southwest Border apprehensions under Trump</a></p>
</p></div>
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Did illegal immigration drop 90% under Donald Trump?

No.

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