Trump Repeats False Claim That 11,888 Murderers Entered US Under Biden in State of the Union Address

During his State of the Union address, Trump repeated a claim he makes regularly that the Biden administration allowed 11,888 murderers to enter the US as migrants, stating "They were murderers, 11,888 murderers. They came into our country." Multiple fact-checkers confirmed Trump was inaccurately describing federal ICE data. The actual data refers to immigrants who, over the course of decades—including during Trump's first administration—were convicted of homicide, usually after their arrival in the U.S., not individuals who entered as murderers under Biden. The underlying ICE data shows these convictions span administrations going back years. Trump also claimed without evidence that millions poured in "from prisons, from mental institutions," a claim he repeats in virtually every speech despite lack of supporting evidence. This represents at least the 15th documented instance of Trump repeating this specific false statistic in public addresses.

“They poured in by the millions and millions from prisons, from mental institutions. There were murderers, 11,888 murderers. They came into our country.” — State of the Union address to joint session of Congress, approximately 45 minutes into speech during immigration policy segment