Obama claims Trump 'did not solve' immigration 'problem.' The numbers tell a different story

Former President Barack Obama stumped for Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris successful Detroit connected Tuesday, wherever he asserted that her Republican rival, erstwhile President Trump, grounded to reside nan migration "problem." 

Immigration consistently polls arsenic a apical rumor for voters successful nan 2024 election. The Biden-Harris management has travel nether withering onslaught from Trump for reversing his separator policies and permitting grounds precocious numbers of migrants to transverse nan confederate separator unlawfully.

At a rally for nan Harris-Walz ticket, Obama acknowledged that "immigration is simply a existent rumor astatine our borders." But he pushed backmost connected disapproval of Harris for neglecting to reside rampant forbidden migration successful her 4 years arsenic vice president and claimed that Trump's committedness to commencement "the largest wide deportation successful nan history of our country" isn't a existent plan. 

"Wasn't Donald Trump president for 4 years?" Obama said. "Wasn't he successful complaint earlier you? If rounding up and deporting millions of hopeless people, galore of them who are women and children, if that's nan reply to everything, why is it that nan number of undocumented immigrants fundamentally stayed nan aforesaid erstwhile he near office?" 

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Obama makes a reside during a rally successful support of Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 statesmanlike run successful Detroit, Michigan, connected Oct. 22, 2024. (Katie McTiernan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"When [Trump] took office, he did not lick nan problem," he added.

The Trump run did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Obama's declare that nan number of illegal immigrants "basically stayed nan same" erstwhile Trump near agency is not true.

During Trump's first term, nan highest number of forbidden separator crossings occurred successful 2019, erstwhile 851,508 group were apprehended aliases recovered inadmissible astatine nan confederate border, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That number dropped to 400,651 successful 2020, erstwhile Trump invoked authority nether Title 42 to expedite deportations because of nationalist wellness concerns amid nan COVID-19 pandemic.

When President Biden took agency successful 2021, he instantly group astir reversing Trump's migration policies. On his first day, his management paused astir ICE arrests and deportations from nan interior U.S. – a move that was blocked by a national judge pursuing a suit from Texas.

Later, nan Biden management rolled retired caller guidelines to ICE successful 2021, prioritizing nationalist information threats, convulsive criminals and caller separator crossers for deportation. Biden besides halted building of Trump's separator wall and ended his "Remain successful Mexico" policy, which required asylum seekers to hold extracurricular nan state for their claims to beryllium processed.

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Trump speaks astatine nan U.S.-Mexico separator connected Aug. 22, 2024, southbound of Sierra Vista, Arizona.  (Rebecca Noble)

Following these actions, forbidden separator crossings soared to 1.6 cardinal successful fiscal twelvemonth 2021. They deed a grounds precocious of 2.2 cardinal nan adjacent year, earlier falling somewhat to conscionable complete 2 cardinal successful FY 2023. 

Most recently, separator crossings person steeply declined aft nan Biden management announced tighter restrictions connected migration complete nan summer. The president issued an executive bid that suspended nan introduction of migrants crossed nan separator erstwhile it reached a definite level. The argumentation has led to a much than 50% driblet successful separator encounters. 

Looking forward, Trump has vowed, if elected, to relocate subject troops to nan U.S.-Mexico separator and authorize ICE to ambush workplaces and information up criminal forbidden aliens for deportation. 

Harris, connected nan different hand, has not articulated a circumstantial scheme for immigration. She has alternatively criticized Trump for lobbying Republicans against a bipartisan separator information measure that grounded to beforehand successful nan Senate. The measure would person accrued backing for separator agents, detention accommodation and fentanyl discovery technology. It besides would person restricted entries to nan U.S. erstwhile separator encounters reached a definite level.

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Trump shows migration charts during nan Republican National Convention connected Thursday, July 18, 2024.  (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Conservatives opposed nan legislation, arguing that it group a level for precocious levels of forbidden immigration. Some liberals besides objected to nan emergency separator authority contained successful nan legislation.

Harris has said that immoderate solution to nan forbidden migration problem must travel from Congress.

"I was conscionable down astatine nan separator talking pinch separator agents, and they will show you… we request much judges. We request to process those cases faster. We request this support for those cases that should beryllium prosecuted. They request much resources, and Congress, ultimately, is nan only spot that that's going to get fixed," Harris said past week.

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"We worked connected supporting what was a bipartisan effort, including immoderate of nan astir blimpish members of nan United States Congress, to really fortify nan border. That separator measure would person put 1500 much separator agents astatine nan border, which is why I judge nan Border Patrol agents supported nan bill," she continued. "It would person allowed america to stem nan travel of fentanyl coming into nan United States, which is simply a scourge affecting group of each background, each geographic location successful our country, sidesplitting people. It would person allowed america to put much resources into prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, which I person done arsenic nan erstwhile lawyer wide of a separator state."

"Donald Trump learned astir that measure and told them to termination it because he preferred to tally connected a problem alternatively of fixing a problem." 

Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw contributed to this report.