Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares a National Emergency at the Southern Border

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This fact sheet about a border emergency declaration makes several misleading or false claims about immigration statistics, trafficking, gang activity, crime rates, and economic impacts. It overstates the scope of the border situation by citing raw encounter numbers without crucial context, exaggerates security threats, and omits recent trends showing decreased illegal crossings and increased use of legal pathways.

This is a “fact sheet” about the “Declaring A National Emergency At The Southern Border Of The United States” memorandum.

The fact sheet correctly cites 8.72 million border encounters at the southern border from FY21-FY24. However, this number is misleading because:

  • Encounters count events, not individuals, as the same person can be counted multiple times
  • Many of these encounters resulted in immediate expulsions or removals
  • Of the 6.5 million total encounters through October 2024, only about 2.5 million people were actually released into the U.S.

The claim about “untold hundreds of thousands of children being trafficked” is false. While there were about 520,000 encounters with unaccompanied children, there is no evidence supporting widespread trafficking claims.

The fact sheet misrepresents the effectiveness of Trump’s 2019 emergency declaration:

  • The original declaration was largely seen as a way to circumvent Congress after they refused wall funding
  • Trump himself undermined the emergency’s legitimacy by stating “I didn’t need to do this”
  • The declaration was controversial and faced multiple legal challenges

While there was one reported incident involving the Tren de Aragua gang in Colorado, the fact sheet exaggerates this into a widespread takeover of “entire American cities.”

The fact sheet implies a direct connection between immigration and violent crime, but:

  • Research shows undocumented immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born citizens
  • The connection between immigration and fentanyl deaths is misleading, as most drugs come through legal ports of entry

The fact sheet omits crucial context about recent border trends:

  • Border encounters had actually fallen sharply by late 2024
  • By December 2024, encounters were at the lowest level of Biden’s presidency
  • Port of entry encounters increased as people used legal pathways instead of crossing illegally

The fact sheet’s claims about economic burden are misleading:

  • Studies show immigrants often fill otherwise vacant jobs
  • They contribute millions in tax dollars
  • The impact on public resources is often overstated

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares a National Emergency at the Southern Border

INVOKING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order invoking the National Emergencies Act regarding the crisis at the Southern Border of the United States.

  • The Executive Order declares a national emergency at the southern border following four years of record-shattering illegal immigration into the U.S.
  • It directs the Secretary of Defense to deploy additional personnel to the border, including members of the Armed Forces and the National Guard.
  • Additionally, it directs the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to finish the wall along the southern border and ensures that DHS has all the flexibility it needs to operate air missions near the border.

TAKING BACK CONTROL: For the past four years, the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to enforce the border, resulting in a catastrophic immigration crisis for the United States.

  • When States like Texas took steps to prevent illegal crossings into their state, the federal government sought to stop them by cutting down their barriers.
  • A record-shattering 8.72 million border encounters have occurred at the southern border from FY21-FY24, overwhelming border resources and endangering communities.
    • This has led to untold hundreds of thousands of children being trafficked. Roughly 550,000 unaccompanied alien children have been encountered at the border since FY21. Fentanyl and other drugs are pouring over the border and flooding our communities, killing roughly 75,000 Americans in 2023—the number one cause of death for Americans ages 18-45.
    • It has allowed dangerous gangs like the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua to takeover and terrorize entire American cities.
    • And it has led to the murders of innocent Americans like Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, and many others.

BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS: America is in a dire situation, and it is past time for the government to act. President Trump first declared an emergency at the Southern Border on February 15, 2019, and continued that emergency on February 13, 2020.

  • Following the at-the-time historic surges of illegal aliens in 2018, President Trump declared a national emergency and successfully reduced the number of people seeking to enter the country illegally.
  • In 2024, President Trump promised to declare an emergency to secure the border and use the military where necessary to protect Americans from foreign threats.
  • This Executive Order will allow the government to gain operational control of the border, combat the cartels, and secure our nation.
  • As President Trump described in 2018: “Illegal immigration affects the lives of all Americans. Illegal immigration hurts American workers; burdens American taxpayers; and undermines public safety; and places enormous strain on local schools, hospitals, and communities in general, taking precious resources away from the poorest Americans who need them most. Illegal immigration costs our country billions and billions of dollars each year…And I will therefore take every lawful action at my disposal to address this crisis. And that’s what we’re doing.”