Why You Shouldn't Vote for Trump: Basic Facts About Immigration, Crime, and the Economy

[You can download and print a one-page PDF of this explainer here.]

Why You Shouldn’t Vote For Trump: 

Basic Facts About Immigration, Crime, and the Economy

Right off the bat, I wanted to say that I’m not here to call anyone names. My hope is to say a couple of things you might not have heard about immigration, crime & the economy, and hope to persuade you with facts you can verify yourself. 

On the 2020 election. Donald Trump has spent the last four years claiming that the 2020 election was stolen. In the weeks following the election in November 2020, Trump’s legal team filed many lawsuits challenging the results in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona – more than 40 cases! Many of the judges hearing these lawsuits were appointed by Trump himself. All but one of the cases was immediately dismissed. Even the one that was successful was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Many judges, including the conservative U.S. Supreme Court, looked at these questions and rejected them. There’s no big cover-up and no conspiracy here. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_U.S._presidential_election

Bottom line: the 2020 election was not stolen. It was close in the swing states like PA, but Joe Biden won, fair and square. Biden won the U.S. popular vote by 7 million votes!

On the border. It’s a fair concern to say that a large number of migrants were coming into the U.S. across the southern border in the first years of Joe Biden’s presidency. Working with Republicans in the Senate, Biden advocated for a very strong, conservative immigration bill that he would have been ready to sign. But in February 2024, Donald Trump blocked it! This fact has been verified by many Republican Senators, including several who are still voting for Trump. Kamala Harris says she would sign this bill if elected. 

There’s more about what was in this bill here: 

https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/unraveling-misinformation-about-bipartisan-immigration-bill/  (or use the QR code with your phone camera)

Incidentally, border crossings are way down this year. After Trump blocked the border bill, Biden implemented a new executive action to force asylum seekers to request asylum outside of the U.S. That has been working. As of June 2024, the rate of illegal crossings is the lowest it’s been since January 2021. Now, you may wish that number were 0, but if you see Trump saying the borders are “wide open” and “millions” of migrants are coming in illegally, that’s just not true. 

On the economy. It’s fair to say that inflation has been an issue under Biden. Overall inflation has led to a cumulative 19.2% increase in prices over Biden’s term. But it’s worth noting that wages have also been way up – a 19.4% increase over Biden’s term. So things may cost more, but most Americans also have more money to spend. Under Joe Biden, the economy has added 16 million jobs. 

Overall, economic growth under Biden has been strong despite inflation: +6% in 2021 (though that’s a rebound from pandemic number), +1.5% in 2022 (effects of inflation), and +2% in 2023. Right now, economists are saying that Biden and the Federal Reserve have managed that rare thing – bringing inflation down without causing a recession (a “soft landing”). 

If you want to see more data, there is a fair breakdown of the Trump economy vs. the Biden economy here: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/18/trump-biden-economy-charts-compare/ (or use the QR code)

On crime. We hear a lot of scaremongering in the media about violent crime rates.  Actually, after a spike in violent crime under Trump, violent crime has been falling rapidly in most American cities since 2022, including Philadelphia. (In Philadelphia this year, the homicide rate is down 42%!) So when Trump says that crime is out of control and that illegal immigrants are responsible, that’s just not remotely true. 

Remember, the local news always follows an “if it bleeds, it leads” approach, so we tend to only hear about bad things happening in Philadelphia. More on the drop in crime rates here (or use the QR code) is here: 

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/12/violent-crime-harris-trump-election