Immigrant rant Trump's tirade ignores facts on crime and economics

Donald Trump's hateful, falsehood-filled rant last week blaming immigrants for crime, "social dysfunction" and economic hardship is refuted by a wide range of immigration statistics, which show clearly that immigrants dramatically bolster the US economy and commit crimes at far lower rates than people born in the US.

- Maya Yang

Trump condemned immigrants in a broad and vicious invective, painting them as "illegal and disruptive populations". He vowed to block all migration from "third world countries" to allow the "US system to fully recover".

The president's post followed a deadly shooting in Washington DC last Wednesday in which one National Guard member was injured and another killed by a 29-year old Afghan national who assisted the US military in Afghanistan and was evacuated to the US after it withdrew.

The shooting sparked more anti-immigration rhetoric from Trump's administration, which has indicated it will further intensify its crackdown on immigrant communities - already a focal point of fierce opposition from civil rights groups, Democrats and the public.

Since the shooting took place, Trump has vowed to conduct a comprehensive review of asylum cases and green cards issued to people from certain countries.