With most of Washington, D.C. and the corporate media fixated on the fallout from President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, relatively little attention has been paid to yet another stunning month of success securing America’s borders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data from March showed that just 7,180 individuals were apprehended along the southwest border last month – the lowest number ever recorded. That figure follows another historic low of 8,326 crossings in February. During Joe Biden’s presidency, illegal crossings averaged 155,000 per month.
In other words, throughout the first two months of Trump’s second term, illegal border crossings have plummeted by an astonishing 95 percent. Put another way, while the Trump administration is now reporting just over 7,000 illegal crossings per month, the Biden administration routinely reported more than 7,000 illegal crossings per day.
“Under the leadership of President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, the administration has taken bold, decisive action to restore control at the border. Border Patrol agents are empowered like never before to shut down unlawful entry and protect American lives,” Pete Flores, acting CBP commissioner, said. “The message is clear: the border is closed to illegal crossings, and for those still willing to test our resolve, know this – you will be prosecuted, and you will be deported.”
In Texas, shelters that were once overflowing with migrants now serve only a few families. One migrant encampment saw its population fall from nearly 100 when Trump took office to less than 10 by the end of January. In San Antonio, one Catholic Charities shelter plans to close due to a lack of new arrivals.
Encounters on the northern border have also plummeted, falling to 4,098 in February compared to 14,653 one year prior. As Republicans warned throughout the Biden administration, drug cartels were increasingly taking advantage of the relatively unsecured U.S.-Canadian border to shuttle fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the country.
Trump’s historic achievements on securing the border fulfill perhaps his most central campaign promise last year. Six weeks out from Election Day, Fox News’s Sean Hannity asked Trump what his top priorities would be if he were elected. “Illegal immigration, the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president responded. “I want to close the border.” So far, he has kept that promise.
The reasons for Trump’s success on the border are easy to see. Immediately after taking office, Trump declared a national emergency at the border, opening up significant federal resources to address the crisis. Via executive order, Trump reinstated “Remain in Mexico,” restarted border wall construction, designated drug cartels and foreign gangs as terrorist organizations, and reversed every Biden-era border policy. CBP agents were once again ordered to stop illegal entries rather than facilitate them.
Importantly, Trump has also directed the Department of Defense under the leadership of Secretary Pete Hegseth to assist the Department of Homeland Security with securing the border. 1,600 more Marines and Army soldiers have been sent to the border to assist CBP, along with a helicopter battalion and Stryker combat vehicles.
In addition, the Pentagon announced last month that it had dispatched the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Gravely to assist with border security operations. The warship can carry 96 missiles, including Tomahawk cruise missiles. A source who requested anonymity told this author that the destroyer would shield the southern border from drones frequently used by cartels.
In addition to helping end the fentanyl crisis and securing the American homeland, Trump’s border crackdown is also assisting his push to cut government spending. CBP said in a press release that the decrease in border traffic has led to the closing of temporary processing facilities along the southern border, with each station shut saving between $5 million and $30 million per month. The agency said it planned to close six facilities in Texas and California, including in Yuma and Tucson, which saw a record-high influx during the Biden era.
There are other more subtle signs that the world recognizes that America’s borders are now closed to illegal entry under Trump. Last October, I reported on the thriving human smuggling industry that used websites to coach migrants on how to enter the United States and game the system to remain in the country.
At the time, I was able to access 17 chats and websites which even sold fake passports and offered paid services to cross the border illegally. Ten of these chats have vanished, and only one website remains accessible on the dark web.
During the Biden administration, many of the human smuggling services were based in China, run through Chinese social media app Weibo. When I contacted the smugglers last year, they were very open about the services they offered and even communicated in English. But when I tried to contact those same services again, they were much more guarded and did not provide any specific information about the prospective trip.
Additionally, the cost had soared dramatically to $12,000-$18,000 and would now take about two weeks longer. The individuals I chatted with also said they could no longer guarantee a successful border crossing.
On all fronts, President Trump’s border agenda has been a smashing success. As the president himself has so often said, what was needed was not a change in policy (as Biden and so many Democrats claimed) but a change in leadership.
Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.
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