Falsely claims El Paso was 'dangerous' before border fence in State of the Union

In his second State of the Union address, Trump falsely claimed El Paso 'used to have extremely high rates of violent crime—one of the highest in the entire country' before a border barrier was built. Data shows El Paso was already one of America's safest cities BEFORE any fence was constructed. The city's violent crime rate had been declining for years prior to barrier construction. Local officials, including Republican Mayor Dee Margo, publicly disputed Trump's claims. Despite widespread fact-checking, Trump repeated the lie at an El Paso rally six days later.

"El Paso used to have extremely high rates of violent crime—one of the highest in the entire country." — 2019 State of the Union address to Congress