The comment came as he touted his immigration record, claiming that zero undocumented individuals made it into the U.S. in the month of May.
At the grand opening of a controversial new immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades — dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — former President Donald Trump claimed the U.S. faced a “military invasion” of undocumented migrants under Joe Biden’s presidency.
“In the four years before I took office, Biden allowed 21 million people — at a minimum — to invade our country,” Trump told reporters. “They came in like a military force, only worse. They don’t wear uniforms, so you can’t tell who they are.”
Trump made the bold remarks while promoting his administration’s immigration policies, declaring that the U.S. now had the lowest level of illegal border crossings ever recorded.
“According to the just-released May data, the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. was zero,” Trump claimed. “Even I was surprised — zero. I figured someone slipped through. But that’s what they’re telling me, and it’s coming from left-wing Democrats who keep the numbers. So if they say zero, I’ll believe it.”
Trump went on to say that the Biden administration allowed more undocumented migrants into the country than the combined populations of six of America’s largest cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia.
“They came from prisons, mental institutions, gangs — drug dealers. It’s disgusting,” he said.
However, official data contradicts many of Trump’s claims. Reports from Politico and PBS indicate that illegal border crossings during Biden’s term ranged from under 100,000 to around 300,000 per month — a far cry from the more than 21 million Trump cited. While total crossings did reach into the millions over several years, the trend declined notably in the final year of Biden’s presidency, dipping below 100,000 per month.
Despite that, Trump insisted the consequences of immigration under Biden had been catastrophic.
“This country-breaking invasion has overwhelmed cities with crime and unbearable costs,” he said. “No country could survive what we went through.”
The speech marked the launch of the new detention center in the Everglades, which Trump officials say will house and process thousands of undocumented migrants. The facility, surrounded by alligator-filled swampland, has drawn criticism from immigration advocates and environmentalists who call the project inhumane and ecologically reckless.
