Misinformation About Immigrants in the 2024 Presidential Election

The KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll sought to examine the public’s exposure to and belief in several true and false claims about immigrants. Below are some of the sources used to document their accuracy.

Claim	Accuracy	Source
Immigrants are causing an increase in violent crime in the U.S.	False. Violent crime is not increasing in the U.S. Studies show that immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than U.S.-born adults, and that there is no correlation between immigration and violent crime rates.	NY Times; Factcheck.org; NPR
Immigrants are taking jobs and causing an increase in unemployment for people born in the U.S.	False. Unemployment rates are not increasing for people born in the U.S. Since 2021, employment for U.S.-born adults has increased more than employment for foreign-born workers.	Factcheck.org; Bureau of Labor Statistics
Immigrants help fill labor shortages in certain industries like agriculture, construction, and health care	True. There are labor shortages in many service industry jobs, and immigrants are more likely to be employed in these sectors than are U.S.-born adults.	CNN; Brookings; KFF: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars in U.S. taxes every year	True. Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.	Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy; CNN