President Trump said during Thursday’s presidential debate that “only” the undocumented immigrants with “the lowest IQ” returned for their court hearings under former President Obama’s “catch-and-release” policy.
Trump criticized the Obama-era policy enacted while Democratic nominee Joe Biden served as vice president. It allowed undocumented immigrants to be released from federal custody to return for a mandatory court date instead of holding them in immigration custody.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that a majority of these undocumented immigrants didn’t return for the court dates, but fact checkers have found that most immigrants do show up for their hearings.
The president labeled “catch-and-release” as a “disaster,” saying “a murderer” or “a rapist” would cross the border, and “we have to release them into our country.” He claimed that less than 1 percent of undocumented immigrants showed up for their hearings, to which Biden responded, “Not true.”
“We have to send [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] out and border patrol to find them,” Trump said.
“When you say they come back, they don’t come back, Joe. They never come back. Only the really — I hate to say this — but those with the lowest IQ, they might come back,” he added before moderator Kristen Welker cut in.
Biden replied to the president by saying, “I know the law. What he’s telling you is simply not true. Check it out.”
The president’s comments came after Biden defended catch-and-release, saying that most undocumented immigrants returned for their court appearances. Biden criticized Trump for being “the first president in the history of the United States of America” who requires those seeking asylum to do it in another country.