Trump asks how Biden will handle illegal immigrants in US after Mayorkas admits need for wall

Former President Donald Trump raised concerns about how President Joe Biden will respond to the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that there is an "acute and immediate need" to build a border wall. 

"Biden sees our country is being invaded," Trump told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "What is he going to do about the 15 million people from prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums, and terrorists that have already come into our country?"

While the actual number of illegal migrants living in the United States may be closer to more than 17 million, according to data from the nonprofit Federation for American Immigration Reform and Homeland Security, the number of arrests of illegal migrants is significantly lower.

For example, the latest data from the 2023 fiscal year, which excludes September, shows that U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 12,600 "criminal noncitizens." However, those numbers may be significantly higher.

The Texas Department of Public Safety's running total of illegal immigrant arrests shows that from June 1, 2011, through Sept. 30, 2023, more than 416,000 criminal illegal immigrants have been booked into Texas jails. The agency does not do a yearly breakdown.

Furthermore, encounters with illegal immigrants on the terrorist watchlist reached 656 over the 2023 fiscal year. However, there is no data to support the claim that all illegal migrants are terrorists or were released from mental institutions or prisons. 

"What has happened to our country?" Trump also said. He urged the Biden administration to "go back to Trump policies" and "reinstate Remain in Mexico and Title 42." Both policies were used to discourage illegal migration. 

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