Reading Time: < 1 minute

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

Authorities estimate the number of undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration and remained at far less than the 25 million that Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance claimed.

Vance said Aug. 28, 2024, in De Pere, Wisconsin:

“Kamala Harris let in 25 million illegal aliens … the 25 million people who are here in this country illegally.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 10 million migrant encounters — one person one or more times — from February 2021 through July 2024.

However, millions were turned away, returned or deported.

The nonprofit Migration Policy Institute estimates there were 6 million entries between January 2021 and April 2024.

Customs and Border Protection also estimated about 2 million “got-aways” — border crossers who evaded authorities — 385,707 in 2021, 737,244 in 2022, and 694,685 in 2023.

Vance’s spokesperson cited conservative media reports, including one saying there may have been 1 million got-aways in one year.

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

Sources

WLUK-TV FOX 11: JD Vance rallies voters in Wisconsin

U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Nationwide Encounters

News release: Chairman Green for RealClearPolitics: No, Biden and Harris’ Border Crisis Is Not Over

USA Today: No, 51M ‘illegals’ have not entered US under Biden, Harris | Fact check

PolitiFact: There aren’t 20 million to 30 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, as Sen. Marco Rubio claimed

Google Docs: Migration Policy Institute Aug. 29, 2024

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Justification

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Fiscal Year 2024 Congressional Justification

Creative Commons License

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.