The reason why we have seen a measles outbreak in certain parts of the country is because of rampant illegal immigration into the United States from the previous administration.
- Speaker
- Byron Donalds
- Organization
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Statement date
- 23 August 2026
- Location or event
- CBS Face the Nation
Reviewed material
The claim in context
Donalds was answering a question about vaccination policy and attributed recent measles outbreaks to immigration during the previous administration.
False
High confidenceAI-assessed confidence, not a measured probability. What this means
Measles outbreaks did occur in parts of the United States, but the evidence does not support attributing them to rampant illegal immigration from a previous administration. CDC data identify international introduction of measles and low vaccination coverage as the relevant outbreak mechanisms, while no data link the outbreaks to illegal immigration.
- CDC measles surveillance does not include individual patients’ immigration status, so it cannot determine whether a particular case involved an undocumented immigrant. That limitation does not establish the broader causal claim.
- The CDC’s 2026 case and outbreak totals were preliminary and may change as jurisdictions report additional information.
What we checked
Claims
-
01
Measles outbreaks have occurred in certain parts of the United States.
The CDC reported 2,777 confirmed U.S. measles cases and 36 outbreaks in 2026 as of August 20, 2026.
True [1] -
02
Rampant illegal immigration from the previous administration was the reason or cause for the measles outbreaks.
Available evidence does not show that people who entered the country illegally caused the outbreaks. The CDC says measles is generally introduced by infected travelers—usually unvaccinated U.S. residents returning from abroad—and spreads rapidly in communities with low vaccination coverage. CDC surveillance does not report patients’ immigration status.
False [3][1]
What the record shows
Key facts
- Supports the claim
- Contradicts the claim
- Adds context
-
The CDC reported 36 new measles outbreaks and 2,777 confirmed cases in the United States in 2026 as of August 20, 2026.
[1] -
The CDC states that measles is usually brought into the United States by infected travelers, typically unvaccinated U.S. residents returning from international travel, and that outbreaks spread when the virus reaches communities with lower vaccination rates.
[1] -
U.S. kindergarten MMR vaccination coverage declined from 95.2% in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.4% in the 2025–2026 school year, below the 95% community-immunity target.
[1] -
PolitiFact reported that it found no data linking measles outbreaks to immigrants in the country illegally and identified declining MMR vaccination as the primary driver cited by infectious-disease experts.
[3]
Evidence trail
Sources
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01
cdc.gov
cdc.gov · Accessed
-
02
cbsnews.com
cbsnews.com · Accessed
-
03
politifact.com
politifact.com · Accessed
Links are shown exactly as returned by the research step. FactifAI does not treat AI-generated text as a source.
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