A post that has been shared by thousands of people on social media falsely claims that the number of immigrants entering the United States irregularly exceeds the birth rate in the country.
The publication, originated at the end of December 2023, shows a line graph that compares the supposed American birth rates with the irregular entries of immigrants between 2019 and 2023, under the Administration of Donald Trump, and contrasts this data with the Government of Joe Biden.
“Since August, there are officially more [immigrants] arriving each month than children being born to American mothers,” says the publication, which has nearly 40 million views on social network X and has been shared about 60,000 times.
But the claim is
false
, uses
misleading data
and
lacks context.
The graph supposedly shows a continued increase in immigrants entering the United States illegally, before surpassing the number of births in August or September 2023.
But the data does not reflect the number of illegal entries, but rather the number of “encounters,” which means something different and does not reflect the number of returned migrants.
The table reflects that in September 2023 there were more “encounters” (341,387) than births (305,000).
However, it does not take into account that
68,210 migrants were returned
that month , placing the original figure below the births.
And the number of immigrants who entered could be even lower.
There are no official data that accurately reflect the number of immigrants who enter the United States irregularly.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), on the other hand, records the number of "encounters" with immigrants at the border.
This means that a person who is detained trying to enter the country can be returned and counted again if they try to cross the border another time.
In short, the same migrant can represent multiple “encounters
. ”
[No, the migrant caravan that left Tapachula is not as large as the population of Minneapolis]
Official data on “encounters” represents events and not people, so they are not a reliable way to determine how many migrants have crossed the border irregularly.
According to the Department of Homeland Security glossary, “encounters” are the “sum of apprehensions under Title 8 of the United States Border Patrol (USBP), those inadmissible under Title 8 of the Office of Field Operations (OFO ) and non-citizens processed for removals under the authority of Title 42 by the USBP or OFO.”
Title 8 is the current immigration law in the United States, under which an immigrant must prove that he or she qualifies for asylum.
Title 42 was the health regulation implemented by Trump to return millions of migrants under the pretext of COVID-19, and whose validity expired in May 2023.
Another challenge in having an accurate number of immigrants crossing the border is that US authorities do not detain everyone who arrives in the United States.
According to provisional 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 322,000 births occurred in August.
The same month, CBP reported 304,073 encounters
with immigrants throughout the country.
A figure lower than the number of births.
The misleading graph comparing both figures is attributed to an X account with the username @fentasyl who identifies himself as
datahazard
.
Numerous users have shared the publication on social networks echoing their concerns about demographic changes in the United States, including Elon Musk.
“To give you an idea of the immense and growing size of illegal immigration!” wrote the Tesla CEO in X when sharing the publication.
Conservative journalist Tucker Carlson also made reference to the graph when speaking in a video about the “invasion” facing the United States.
“Americans are being replaced,” he stated in the video.
Carlson painted a bleak picture and made several claims, including that “in August 2023, illegal immigration surpassed births in the United States.”
As migrants' attempts to cross the border increase, Biden has faced growing criticism from Republicans for his handling of the crisis.
The president is trying to dismantle the accusations against his management at the border, at a time when immigration has become an issue of increasing concern to voters, ahead of the presidential elections.
The border issue is so hot that, this week, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted in favor of opening an impeachment trial against Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, whom they accuse of mismanagement in immigration matters.
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