KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) took a group of Tennessee mayors and sheriffs to the U.S.-Mexico Border in Texas earlier this month.
Upon his return, he made several appearances across the state, including two in East Tennessee. We verified his claims.
1. Does the Biden Administration give asylum seekers a cell phone, cash, clothes and an airplane ticket to anywhere they want to go in the U.S.?
"Most people would call it a 'white-glove treatment,'" Hagerty said. "They get a cell phone, they get cash, fresh clothing if they need it, they get an airplane ticket anywhere they'd like to go to the interior of the United States."
Hagerty repeated this claim several times in his appearances in Chattanooga and Knoxville. He said the Biden Administration is giving asylum seekers an incentive to come into the United States.
The claim is false.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) gives immigrants phones, but they can only access a monitoring app, according to the Associated Press. Migrants can choose from a list of destinations and usually get bus tickets, not plane tickets, the AP said.
2. Did FBI Director Christopher Wray say he hasn't seen it this dangerous since 9/11?
"Our FBI Director says he's never seen it as dangerous as it is since 9/11," Hagerty said. "Why would this happen? Why would the Biden administration invite this havoc into our nation."
In the context of the border crisis and the number of people with different nationalities entering our nation, Hagerty said FBI Director Christopher Wray said he hasn't seen it this dangerous since Sept. 11.
That claim is also false.
At a Senate hearing in December, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R - SC) asked Wray that question point-blank.
"Would you say, kind of putting a fine point on this topic, that right now is the largest threat we face as a nation from international terrorist organizations since 9/11?" Graham asked.
"Well, it's certainly higher than it has been in a long long time, let me put it that way," Wray said.
Wray said the number of suspected terrorists illegally crossing the southern border has increased. He said other factors, including the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas has increased the foreign terrorist threat toward the U.S.
3. Did 20,000 Chinese Citizens cross the border in the past year?
Hagerty said people of different nationalities are crossing the southern border, including 20,000 people from China.
That claim is true.
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol keeps track of the number of encounters its agents have with people with different citizenships. In Fiscal Year 2023 (October 2022 - September 2023), the agency recorded 24,314 encounters with people with Chinese citizenship. This fiscal year, October 2023 - January 2024, the agency recorded 18,755 encounters with people who are Chinese citizens.