Fact-checking former President Donald Trump at his rally in Tucson

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Former President Donald Trump Donald Trump held a rally in Tucson on Thursday. It’s the first since the ABC Presidential Debate earlier in the week. The former president made false or misleading claims regarding migrants and crime data, but correctly spoke about the housing affordability crunch in Arizona.

Arizona’s Family is fact-checking both candidates as part of our commitment to keep politicians accountable, regardless of party, before, during, during, and after the election cycle.

RELATED: Trump speaks on taxes, immigration, and Kari Lake during Tucson visit

Claim: More homes in Arizona were considered “affordable” when Trump was president

Fact-Check: ✅ Mostly True

According to an analysis by the University of Arizona, housing was considered “affordable” to the median income for about 60%-70% of households in metro Phoenix between 2016 and 2020, with those numbers slightly higher for the Tucson area.

Affordability plummeted beginning in 2021, and as of 2023, only about 28% of homes are considered affordable in Phoenix when compared to the average household income. In Tucson, it’s about 38%.

For comparison, about 40% of homes nationwide are considered affordable when compared to the average household wage for that home’s metro area.

Claim: Kamala Harris is randomly flying in migrants to the U.S.

Fact-Check: ❌ False

Trump has repeatedly brought up the claim the Biden-Harris administration was flying migrants into the United States. According to a fact check by the Associated Press, the claim is likely linked to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, which is a group that advocates for restrictions on immigration.

It said the administration refused to list individual airports where people arrived under a Biden “parole” program that allows Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to stay in the U.S. for two years.

According to the AP, migrants are not being flown into the U.S. randomly.

Under a Biden policy in effect since January 2023, up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter the country monthly if they apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at a specified airport, paying their own way. Biden exercised his “parole” authority, which, under a 1952 law, allows him to admit people “only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”

Claim: Haitian migrants in Ohio entered the U.S. illegally

Fact-Check: ⚠️ Misleading

Rose-Thamar Joseph at Springfield’s Haitian Community Help & Support Center told The Associated Press that roughly 15,000 migrants from Haiti arrived in the city during the past few years.

On Sept. 10, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said more law enforcement and $2.5 million would be sent to the city to help with the increase in Haitian migrants.

However, they are not in the country illegally. In August, President Joe Biden announced roughly 300,000 Haitians could remain in the country through at least February 2026 and can work under a law called the Temporary Protected Status.

The AP also said of the more than 56,000 illegal crossings in July, only 92 of them were Haitians.

Springfield, Ohio was thrusted into the spotlight after unconfirmed reports of migrants eating pets.

Claim: Trump got the most votes of any sitting president

Fact-Check:✅ True

Donald Trump received 74,223,975 popular votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to a fact check by CBS News that analyzed official election results published by the Federal Election Commission.

They found Trump’s vote total in 2020 was the highest number of votes for a Republican candidate — or a sitting president. But his competitor received 7 million more votes.

In 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden received 81,283,501 votes, the most ever cast for a U.S. presidential candidate – and over 7 million more than Trump.

Biden won the Electoral College votes with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

Claim: Kamala Harris didn’t work at McDonalds

Fact-Check: ⚠️ Misleading

There is no evidence that Kamala Harris did not work for McDonald’s. Harris has repeatedly mentioned working for the fast food giant while she was in college and has featured the work experience in a recent ad.

A viral post that claims to say that McDonald’s has said Harris did not work for the chain was found to be false, according to a fact check by USA Today and Politifact. There is no evidence McDonald’s has weighed in on the credibility of Harris’ statement. There are no credible news reports about the restaurant chain making a statement about Harris, and nothing resembling the statement appears on the chain’s social media accounts or website.

According to Politifact, the Harris campaign said she worked the cash register, fry and ice cream machines at a McDonald’s location in Alameda, California in 1983.

Claim: FBI crime data is “fraudulent” and crime is actually up in the U.S.

Fact-Check: ❌ False

Annual FBI data from 2020 to 2022 shows a decline in violent crime across the country. Claims of an increase in violent crime have been repeated before, including during an Arizona rally in August. Additionally, preliminary data from 2023 shows a continuing decline after a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, per the Associated Press.

In addition, analysis by the Pew Research Center shows that violent and property crime rates have plummeted since the 1990s, regardless of the original data source.

The FBI and the U.S. Justice Department estimate crime data by non-reporting agencies using a statistical weight from similarly sized and populated cities. Federal officials have done so since the 1960s, according to a federal document dated from 2022.

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