Fact-checking Trump’s immigration and One Big Beautiful Bill claims

United States President Donald Trump has toured Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz migration detention installation successful the Everglades earlier it gets its archetypal detainees.

“It’s known arsenic Alligator Alcatraz, which is precise due due to the fact that I looked extracurricular and that’s not a spot I privation to spell hiking,” Trump told the media during a livestreamed lawsuit connected Tuesday. “But precise soon, this installation volition location immoderate of the astir menacing migrants, immoderate of the astir vicious radical connected the planet.”

Trump campaigned for the presidency connected promises to tackle migration but faces a shortage of detention beds. The One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s taxation and spending plan, passed the Senate during his Florida halt and includes $150bn for his deportation docket implicit 4 years.

State officials rapidly built the expected 5,000-bed installation to detain immigrants connected apical of a decades-old landing strip. The Department of Homeland Security pegged the one-year outgo of moving the installation astatine $450m, which it plans to wage for with wealth from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program.

Florida officials, including erstwhile Trump rival Governor Ron DeSantis, joined the president and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for the tour. DeSantis said Noem’s squad told him the installation would beryllium opened to person detainees aft Trump’s departure.

Trump talked for much than an hr arsenic helium deflected questions astir who could suffer Medicaid healthcare sum nether the taxation and spending legislation, warmly responded to a proposition to apprehension erstwhile President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and repeated a predominant ailment astir ablution heads lacking capable h2o pressure. Noem, meanwhile, said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained a “cannibal” who “started to devour himself” connected an airplane.

Here is simply a information cheque of immoderate of Trump’s remarks:

Trump’s ‘illegal alien’ outgo estimation comes from radical that advocates for debased migration levels

While talking astir the extremity of cutting the national budget, Trump said: “The mean amerciable alien costs American taxpayers an estimated $70,000.”

That is simply a beingness estimation by an organisation that supports debased levels of immigration. Critics person taken contented with it.

The White House quoted 2024 grounds to a committee successful the House of Representatives by Steven A Camarota, probe manager astatine the Center for Immigration Studies.

Camarota said successful written testimony: “The beingness fiscal drain (taxes paid minus costs) for each amerciable migrant is astir $68,000.” He based his estimation connected immigrants’ nett fiscal interaction by acquisition level.

Camarota said the estimation came with caveats, including what percent of immigrants successful the US illegally were utilizing payment programmes and the magnitude of benefits they received and their usage of nationalist schools and exigency services.

Other analyses amusement affirmative economical effects from undocumented immigrants successful the US.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan probe limb of Congress, successful a 2024 study recovered some costs and benefits from the Biden-era migration increase. On net, CBO found, the interaction was affirmative successful respective areas.

The CBO estimated an $8.9 trillion boost to the gross home merchandise – a measurement of wide economical enactment – implicit 10 years due to the fact that of the migration surge, which would amended wages, salaries and firm profits. The CBO besides estimated that national deficits would diminution by astir $1 trillion implicit 10 years due to the fact that of accrued taxation revenues from immigrants, which the bureau estimated would outweigh the costs they imposed successful the signifier of further national outlays.

Separately, the libertarian Cato Institute successful 2023 recovered “immigrants make astir $1 trillion (in 2024 dollars) successful state, section and national taxes, which is astir $300 cardinal much than they person successful authorities benefits, including currency assistance, entitlements, and nationalist education.”

Michael A Clemens, a George Mason University economist, told PolitiFact that though the Center for Immigration Studies counted the usage of nationalist schools by immigrants successful the US illegally arsenic a cost, helium and different economists spot nationalist schoolhouse backing arsenic having nett affirmative benefits.

Trump repeats ‘autopen’ conspiracy mentation astir Biden

Trump said: “We person a batch of atrocious criminals that came into the country. … It was an unforced error. It was an incompetent president that allowed it to happen. It was an autopen, maybe, that allowed it to happen.”

He was referring to a conspiracy mentation successful pro-Trump circles that Biden was truthful retired of the loop during his ain presidency that aides were capable to repeatedly forge his signature with a mechanical autopen to prosecute their ain argumentation goals.

No grounds has surfaced to bespeak that a papers Biden signed – whether by autopen oregon not – was done without his cognition oregon consent. Anything Biden signed utilizing an autopen would person been valid, ineligible experts say.

In March, we rated Trump’s assertion that Biden’s pardons weren’t valid due to the fact that they were signed with an autopen false. US presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, routinely person had subordinates motion pardons connected their behalf.

Then-President Joe Biden signs a proclamation to found 2 nationalist monuments astatine the White House connected January 14, 2025, successful Washington, DC [Evan Vucci/AP]

Trump falsely says argumentation measure targets lone Medicaid ‘waste, fraud and abuse’

During his visit, reporters asked Trump astir the One Big Beautiful Bill – which the Senate approved mid-visit – and its effect connected Medicaid. “Are you saying that the estimated 11.8 cardinal radical who could suffer their wellness coverage, that is each waste, fraud and abuse?” a newsman asked.

Trump said: “No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying it’s going to beryllium a precise overmuch smaller fig than that, and that fig volition beryllium waste, fraud and abuse.”

We rated a akin mentation of Trump’s statement false, finding that the Medicaid changes spell beyond conscionable waste, fraud and abuse.

The 11.8 cardinal fig comes from a CBO investigation of the Senate-passed bill.

Although immoderate provisions could amended the detection of beneficiaries who aren’t eligible for coverage, different provisions of the House and the Senate bills would alteration the healthcare programme for low-income Americans to align with Trump’s ideology and Republican priorities.

The measure incentivises states to halt utilizing their ain funds to screen radical successful the US illegally; it requires radical to enactment oregon bash different approved enactment to unafraid benefits; and it bans Medicaid payments for gender-affirming attraction and to nonprofits specified arsenic Planned Parenthood that supply abortions among different services.

Other changes would enforce copays and a shorter model for retroactive coverage. These would alteration the programme’s fiscal outlook but would not people waste, fraud oregon abuse.

Trump doubles estimation of migrant arrivals nether Biden

Trump said: “In the 4 years earlier I took office, Joe Biden allowed 21 cardinal people, … amerciable aliens, to invade our country.”

This run talking constituent remains false. During Biden’s tenure, migration officials encountered immigrants illegally crossing the US borderline astir 10 cardinal times. When accounting for “got-aways” – radical who evade borderline officials – the fig rises to astir 11.6 million.

Encounters aren’t the aforesaid as admissions. Encounters correspond events, truthful 1 idiosyncratic who tries to transverse the borderline doubly counts arsenic 2 encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is fto into the country. The Homeland Security Department estimated about 4 cardinal encounters nether Biden led to expulsions oregon removals.

During Biden’s administration, about 3.8 cardinal people were released into the US to await migration tribunal hearings, Department of Homeland Security information show.

PolitiFact unit researcher Caryn Baird and unit writer Ella Moore contributed to this article.