Trump Sparks Outrage After Saying He Knows Migrants Are 'Trouble' Just By 'Looking At Them'—And Everyone's Thinking The Same Thing

President Donald Trump was criticized after suggesting during a speech in the White House Rose Garden that undocumented migrants can be identified as "trouble" by "looking at them," prompting critics to call out the implication.

Trump's remarks came after reporters noted that federal immigration officials had detained more than 10,000 people over a five-day period, a sure sign that the administration's nationwide immigration crackdown is intensifying.

Trump claimed the Biden administration is responsible for the increased number of migrants in the country and said:

“They came in through an open border. They came in through prisons, mental institutions, drug dealers. You have no idea the drug dealers that came in under Biden. Open border. Nobody checked. They just walk in.”

“And you could look at some of them, you could say, ‘This is trouble.' And they’d walk into our country.”

You can hear what Trump said in the video below.

Trump's attack is not dissimilar to his now-infamous claim in 2015 that Mexicans who've crossed the southern border are "drug dealers" and "rapists" and is red meat for his base amid their calls for mass deportations.

Internal directives issued in recent days instructed senior ICE officials to intensify efforts to arrest immigrants targeted for deportation, according to documents obtained by the New York Times and interviews with federal officials. Officers have increasingly made arrests during immigration check-ins, traffic stops, and street operations.

The strategy appears to have significantly increased enforcement activity, with daily arrests reportedly rising to about 2,000—roughly double the average of around 1,000 earlier this year.

According to officials familiar with the discussions, the White House pushed for the higher arrest numbers, with ICE leadership informing personnel that 2,000 arrests per day had become the new benchmark, though one official questioned whether that pace could be sustained.

The New York Times said the surge in arrests reflects Trump's determination to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations—and his comments further highlight the risks of immigration enforcement strategies that rely on people's appearance or perceived status as a basis for detention.

Many have condemned Trump's remarks.

It's worth pointing out that Trump has no problem with migrants as long as they're white.

Newly released data from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration shows that all 599 refugees admitted to the United States last month were white South Africans. The figures also indicate that nearly every refugee admitted during the current fiscal year has come from the same group.

Since October 1, 2025, the United States has admitted 6,668 refugees. Of those, 6,665 were white South Africans, while the remaining three—admitted last November—were from Afghanistan. No refugees from any other country were admitted during that period, according to data from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

White nationalist Afrikaners have asserted that apartheid was not a crime against humanity and have spread conspiracy theories about "white genocide" perpetrated by the country's majority Black population. The Trump administration has cited these discredited claims as reason to grant asylum to white South Africans, primarily Afrikaners.