Migrants from China
Talking about illegal immigration, Trump claimed that “we have a major force that’s forming in our country, when you see that over the last three weeks, 29,000 people came in from China, and they’re all fighting age, and they’re mostly males.”
Facts First: There’s no basis for the claim that 29,000 Chinese migrants have entered the country “over the last three weeks.” Official federal data from US Customs and Border Protection shows that through the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, up to the end of March, 24,376 Chinese nationals had been encountered at the southern border. That’s a smaller number than the one Trump used, and it’s for six months rather than “three weeks.” The official data shows 41,970 total nationwide border encounters with Chinese nationals in the first six months of the fiscal year, again nowhere close to the pace Trump described.
Official border data for April is not yet available, but there’s no public reporting about the April 1-12 period that would corroborate Trump’s claim about the three weeks prior. Also, there is no evidence for Trump’s repeated suggestions that Chinese migrants are trying to form some sort of military force in the US.
Talking about illegal immigration, Trump claimed that “we have a major force that’s forming in our country, when you see that over the last three weeks, 29,000 people came in from China, and they’re all fighting age, and they’re mostly males.”
Facts First: There’s no basis for the claim that 29,000 Chinese migrants have entered the country “over the last three weeks.” Official federal data from US Customs and Border Protection shows that through the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, up to the end of March, 24,376 Chinese nationals had been encountered at the southern border. That’s a smaller number than the one Trump used, and it’s for six months rather than “three weeks.” The official data shows 41,970 total nationwide border encounters with Chinese nationals in the first six months of the fiscal year, again nowhere close to the pace Trump described.
Official border data for April is not yet available, but there’s no public reporting about the April 1-12 period that would corroborate Trump’s claim about the three weeks prior. Also, there is no evidence for Trump’s repeated suggestions that Chinese migrants are trying to form some sort of military force in the US.
