Trump often repeats these false and misleading immigration claims. Here are the facts.

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Former President Donald Trump knows how important his words are about undocumented immigrants.

“Migrant criminals”. “Illegitimate Monster.” “Assassins”. “Members of the gang”. “Poisoning our country.” “Take your job.” “The biggest invasion in the history of our country.”

Repetition has been a staple of Trump’s speech throughout his political career. Studies have shown that the more times one hears a statement, the more it seems true.

The Marshall Project used a combination of computer text analysis and human reporting to process more than 350,000 Trump public statements from Factba.se. The reporters found 13 key statements about immigration, some of which the former president repeated 500 times or more. They are all false or misleading.

Our analysis found these to be some of Trump’s most repeated and noteworthy claims — follow the links for the Marshall Project’s full fact-check:

Here are five things you should know our in-depth analysis.

Repetition makes false statements more true

Even recognizing that a statement is false becomes more difficult when one hears it repeatedly.

Cognitive scientists call this the “illusory truth effect.” The more someone hears a statement, the more likely they are to believe it. why so Repetition makes it easier to process information, making it more true. AND Results of the 2021 study that repeating a piece of information up to nine times continued to make it more believable for subjects, and further repetition did not diminish the effect.

The false connection between immigration and crime has led to real policies such as Safe communitiesprogram that flags immigrants who are in the custody of local law enforcement agencies deportation, and 287(g) programwhich delegates some immigration control tasks to local police services. Experts say that such a policy does not work and distracts from the discussion of the real causes and solutions.

Trump has made at least 560 statements linking immigrants to crime. Immigrants to the United States — both legal and undocumented — have committed fewer crimes than native-born Americans since the 1870s, according to consistent, massive criminology studies. Learn more in our full fact-check.

Unauthorized immigrants are being used to cast doubt on election results

Claims about immigration and crime are being used to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 general election and possibly the 2024 general election.

For example, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin agreed with the 2020 results, but raised concerns about non-citizen voting. In Texas, the right-wing group True the Vote led a campaign to challenge voter registration, forcing election officials cope with thousands of challenges ensuring that eligible voters are not wrongfully removed.

Groups have too disputed registrations in such states as Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Later, they started their campaign Republican-led states are leaving a reliable system of maintaining accurate lists of voters.

Trump has said at least 20 times that Democrats are deliberately encouraging unauthorized immigrants to vote illegally. There is no evidence that Democratic Party immigration policies have resulted in any significant increase in noncitizen voting or any form of demographic advantage for the party. Learn more in our full fact-check.

Incendiary rhetoric normalizes harsh politics

Scholars have noted the effects of immigration, with the rhetoric of Trump and other politicians encouraging more xenophobia and racism in everyday conversation and tougher government policies such as family separation and mass deportation.

Polls show growing public support for tougher immigration measures. AND July Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans favor reducing immigration, the highest level in two decades. Support for tougher border measures, including ending asylum and expanding walls, rose, while support for pathways to citizenship fell slightly.

Surveys at the state level confirm these trends. For example, a a recent poll in Arizona found that 63% of voters support Proposition 314, which would make illegal border crossing a state crime.

Trump has said at least 675 times that building a wall on the border with Mexico is necessary and effective. The reality of building a border wall is complex, and the barrier has proven to be ineffective, costly to taxpayers, and an incentive for more dangerous ways to enter the country. Historically, many undocumented immigrants overstay their legal visas regardless of the wall. Learn more in our full fact-check.

Harris has a more positive tone, despite supporting tough policies

Reporters reviewed and analyzed Vice President Kamala Harris’ public statements on immigration, but the data was limited to the time since she became the Democratic nominee. Her statements generally conveyed a more positive tone toward immigrants and asylum seekers compared to Trump’s.

“Innocent people”. “Children who fled incredible violence.” “Displaced”. “Dreamers”. “Families”. “Muslim brothers and sisters.” “We are all immigrants.”

Harris frequently cites his work in prosecuting transnational gangs and supports the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Even so, Harris has taken what pundits call the Democratic Party’s toughest immigration stance in a generation, including measures such as tighter border controls and expansion of immigration detention centers, though they fall short of Trump’s extreme proposals. Harris also supported a bill on border security it was derailed by Trump, who opposed potential gains for Democrats.

Despite the evidence, it is easy for immigrants to become scapegoats

Politicians of various parties and countries continue to reap the rewards of blaming immigrants for social problems, despite studies showing that immigrants are not responsible for rising crime. Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Miami, points to a “disparity” between the data and political rhetoric, as studies repeatedly show that immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.

as Trump emphasized CPAC in 2020he remains confident in the political power of anti-immigrant rhetoric: “I could be elected twice over the wall.” This has not happened yet.