Donald Trump has attacked President Joe Biden's policies on illegal immigration, saying they will cause Social Security and Medicare to "collapse".
Speaking at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, the former president took aim at Biden's record on the southern border. "One of the most important issues in this race is how Biden's border invasion is going to obliterate Medicare and Social Security for American seniors," he said to a packed hall of supporters ahead of the Wisconsin presidential primary, which he won with almost 80 percent of the vote, according to preliminary reports.
"What he's doing by allowing 15 million, 20 million people this year, [is] destroying your Social Security, he's destroying your Medicare, and many thing else. He's destroying your way of life."
Trump did not cite any official source while making his comments, and Newsweek has contacted Trump's campaign team via email outside normal working hours for clarification. Newsweek has also contacted the Biden campaign by email for comment.
He continued: "If the millions of Biden migrants are allowed to stay as Joe Biden intends, they will cost taxpayers trillions of dollars, and Medicare and Social Security will buckle and collapse!"
Up-to-date official data on how many migrants have crossed into the U.S. this year is not available. The Center for Immigration Studies, which campaigns for low immigration, estimated in a recent study that the total foreign-born population of the United States had risen by 6.4 million since Biden took office in January 2021 and that 3.7 million of the increase was "likely due" to illegal immigration.
Migrant numbers crossing into the country over the U.S.-Mexico border have increased dramatically in recent years. In February 2021, there were 101,099 encounters, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the same month of 2024, the latest month to be reported, there were 189,922 enforcement encounters.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) faces a looming funding crisis that could see benefits automatically cut within the next decade. Reserves that fund the SSA could run out within the next decade unless major action is taken.
Illegal immigrants are generally not eligible to collect Social Security and Medicare benefits, with some exceptions for Social Security disability benefits. A report by the Center for Immigration Studies found that illegal immigration actually benefits the Social Security system as many will pay taxes without reaping the benefits.
"These taxes function as free contributions to the trust funds, as long as the illegal immigrants remain ineligible for benefits," the center explains. Many migrants are granted temporary work passes while they are living in the U.S., but cannot claim Social Security payments.
"Although border crossings have surged to record levels in this decade, the Biden administration's generous use of the 'parole' power has granted temporary work permits to large numbers of migrants who will not be eligible for entitlement benefits when (and if) their parole expires," the report explains. "In any case, when the number of illegal immigrants who contribute payroll taxes increases, so does the benefit for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds."
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Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her focus is reporting on issues across the U.S., including ... Read more
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