Trump Suggests Migrants Commit Murders Because They Have ‘Bad Genes’

Topline

Former President Donald Trump suggested migrants coming to the U.S. border have “bad genes” on Monday while accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of “allowing people to come to an open border,” including “murderers.”

Key Facts

Trump alleged 13,000 migrants who have come to the U.S. are “murderers” in an interview Monday with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, explaining “a murderer—I believe this—it’s in their genes” while adding “we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”

The 13,000 figure appears to reference a letter Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month that said 13,099 undocumented migrants who are not in ICE custody have been convicted of homicide.

Some of those migrants could be on ICE’s “non-detained” docket because they are currently in federal or state custody for other crimes, three anonymous law enforcement officials recently told NBC News.

Trump made the allegations to Hewitt while ranting about Harris’ plan to give qualified first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment assistance, before pivoting to a rant about illegal immigration, claiming Harris “wants to go to a Communist Party-type system . . . when you look at the things that she proposes, they’re so far off.”

Contra

Recent studies contradict claims that migrants in the U.S. illegally are committing crimes at higher rates than people living in the country legally. A 2023 Stanford University study found immigrants were 60% less likely than U.S.-born men to be incarcerated. The Cato Institute has also published several studies that show migrants in Texas who are in the country illegally have lower incarceration and lower homicide conviction rates than U.S. citizens.

Key Background

Trump has ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric and proposals during his most recent campaign, promising mass deportations of undocumented migrants if elected. In recent weeks, he has repeated the baseless claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are abducting and eating residents’ pets despite city officials saying there are no verifiable reports of such incidents. He’s also referred to the Biden-Harris immigration policies as a “border bloodbath,” while repeating a false claim he’s made for years that other countries are sending “prisoners, murderers, drug dealers, mental patients and terrorists” to the U.S., he said in April. Trump has also falsely referred to Harris as the “border czar,” a mischaracterization of the role Biden appointed her to in March 2021 to work with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to address root causes of migration to the U.S.

Further Reading

‘Joe Biden’s Border Bloodbath’: Trump Doubles Down On Controversial Anti-Immigration Rhetoric (Forbes)

What To Know About Kamala Harris’s Immigration Record Before Border Visit Today (Forbes)

Over Half Of Americans Worried Non-Citizens Vote Illegally, Poll Finds—Despite Little Evidence (Forbes)