Key Points You Need to Know: During the recent presidential debate, President Joe Biden claimed that illegal border crossings had decreased by 40 percent under his administration.

-This statement was misleading.

-In reality, encounters at the border have increased significantly.

Immigration was a much-anticipated topic for the presidential debate. My colleagues at the Daily Signal fact-checked 16 claims made by both candidates here.

But there’s one more I can’t let slide without comment: Joe Biden’s attempted slam-dunk claim that border crossings were down 40 percent.

Biden’s response to a question about the border (around the 21-minute mark) was garbled, but he said this clearly: “…there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally, that’s better than when he [Trump] left office.”

The claim that fewer aliens are illegally crossing the border under Biden than under Trump is patently false. In fiscal year 2020, there were 405,036 total encounters by the Border Patrol, of aliens attempting to enter illegally at U.S. borders. In fiscal 2023, there were 2,063,692.

In December 2019, there were 51,320.

In December 2023, there were 251,177.

Biden continued: “And I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban… on the … the total initiative… relative to what we’re gonna do with more........

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