Despite the fall in overall violent crime across the United States and research suggesting that immigrants are less frequently involved in criminal activities compared to native U.S. citizens, former President Donald Trump’s recent ad campaign consistently equates immigration with criminal behavior. Using this fearmongering tactic, Trump singles out the Biden-Harris administration, accusing them of releasing thousands of undocumented immigrants convicted of violent crimes into the country.
The campaign ad, launched on Trump’s Truth Social account, brazenly claims the administration released ‘13,099 convicted murderers,’ ‘2,521 human traffickers,’ and ‘15,811 rapists.’ It goes on to dramatically assign blame to Vice President Kamala Harris, suggesting that these alleged actions were carried out under her watch. But the truth behind these charges is far more complex and nuanced than the ad suggests.
The ad utilizes selective editing to present a 2017 clip of Vice President Kamala Harris saying ‘an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.’ To the unseasoned viewer, this is presented as evidence of Harris’s disdain for border control and lack of concern for American safety. Interestingly enough, the ad deliberately omits the broader context of Harris’s statement and instead fills the screen with news headlines of immigrants being arrested for crimes.
In reality, Harris’s comments were not an unconditional endorsement of immigrants who have engaged in criminal activities, but a rational critique of the Trump administration’s strategy to collectively brand all immigrants as criminals. Her aim was not to excuse those who committed crimes but to distinguish between the majority of hardworking immigrants seeking a better life and the few who discredit their community by engaging in criminal activities.
However, the campaign ad does not stop at misrepresentations. It goes on to distort federal data in an attempt to establish grounds for its outrageous claims. In a recent communication to Rep. Tony Gonzales, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner stated that of the total 435,719 immigrants convicted of crimes, not all are present in the U.S. But this nuanced fact is conveniently ignored in Trump’s campaign narrative.
Furthermore, the ICE data reveals that the list of immigrant convicts comprises those detained in immigration facilities and those not currently under detention. The key point that the majority of these immigrants didn’t enter the U.S. in the last three and a half years and that the data spans back 40 years is disregarded, skewing the compelling argument of a sudden influx of crime due to Biden-Harris administration policies.
The figures touted in the campaign advertisement, ‘13,099 murderers released,’ ‘2,521 traffickers released,’ and ‘15,811 rapists released,’ are a fraction of the entire population of immigrant convicts and include immigrants in law enforcement custody serving their sentences. Yet, they are misleadingly presented as part of a group freely roaming the country- a grossly distorted depiction.
The undeniable reality is that immigrants who complete their sentences frequently transition from law enforcement into immigration custody. Only a few, specifically those from countries which refuse to accept deportations, are released into the United States. This stems from a Supreme Court ruling from 2001 which prevents individuals from being indefinitely held in immigration detention.
Importantly, the list of immigrant convicts also comprises legal permanent residents. It’s not a list exclusively of those who ‘illegally’ entered the U.S., yet the campaign ad continues to make such misleading claims. This mix-up of legal resident immigrants with those undocumented adds an additional layer of misinformation to Trump’s advertisement.
Let’s also explore Harris’s stance on immigration documented in the advertisement and how it has been twisted out of context. Playing on technicalities, the ad cites Harris’s 2019 campaign moment where she agreed that illegal border crossings should be treated as civil offenses, not criminal ones. This stance is portrayed as a blatant disregard for American laws and security without providing the full discussion related to the topic.
In the wake of the controversial Trump administration ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, which saw widespread family separations at the U.S. border, this conversation about civil versus criminal offenses gained momentum. However, these facts are left out of the ad to give an impression of Harris’s perceived indifference towards border security.
Proving that she’s no pushover when it comes to border security, Harris clarified in an October 16 interview her lack of support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Contrary to the ill-conceived notions promoted in Trump’s ad, Harris asserted, ‘??I do not believe in decriminalizing border crossings, and I have not done that as vice president. I will not do that as president.’
The campaign ad wraps up by misrepresenting Harris’s comments on Trump’s executive order which banned citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days. Harris’s arguments, which were actually against the blanket labeling of all immigrants as criminals and her firm belief that criminals must face ‘severe and swift consequences,’ are selectively edited and taken out of context.
In truth, the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies and strategies are far more nuanced and thoughtful than this ad would suggest. It’s clear that while they believe in upholding law and order, they also understand the need for humaneness in dealing with those seeking a better life in the United States. But this balanced concept is entirely absent from Trump’s fear-inducing campaign ad.