MADRID (AP) — President Donald Trump excoriated European leaders about their efforts to slow irregular migration, claiming they have done little to prevent an influx of outsiders that has transformed the continent.
However, Trump’s claims during an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday come amid a decline in Europe’s irregular border crossings, which have largely been decreasing for a decade. European Union countries have spent billions of euros to stanch the flow of unauthorized migration, which includes people who came to or remained in the EU illegally or who applied for asylum in one of its member states.
Irregular migration to Europe isn’t on the rise
TRUMP: “Europe is in serious trouble. They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before.”
THE FACTS: Irregular border crossings from January through August were down roughly 20% compared to the same period last year, according to the EU’s border control agency Frontex. About 112,000 people were flagged trying to cross the EU’s external borders in the first eight months of this year, whereas nearly 140,000 were flagged from January through August of 2024.
Still, as was the case in the U.S. when Trump first successfully ran for president, unauthorized immigration has weighed heavily on European politics since 2015, when droves of migrants and refugees arrived, including many who were fleeing Syria’s civil war.
Europe struggles with deportation orders
TRUMP: “Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe, and nobody’s doing anything to change it, to get them out.”
THE FACTS: EU authorities have struggled to carry out deportation orders. More than 400,000 foreign nationals who aren’t legally in the EU are ordered to leave each year, but only about 20% are deported, according to the European Commission.
Geographic and bureaucratic hurdles make deporting migrants without documentation difficult within the bloc, authorities say.
“Geography adds to the challenge. People don’t go to one place. They go to dozens of countries, all with different levels of cooperation and different political realities,” said Chris Borowski, a spokesperson for the EU’s border control agency, Frontex.
Summary of Findings: Trump's remarks about increasing illegal immigration and asylum requirements often ignore the decreasing trends in unauthorized migration and the complexities involved in deportation efforts within the EU.
