Politics
NEW: Illegal Alien Encounters At Southern Border Plunge To Record Lows
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks announced Sunday that migrant encounters along the southern border plunged to an all-time low for the agency in February.
“February proved our combined efforts in securing the border WORK. USBP apprehended 8,326 illegal aliens at the U.S.-Mexico border, making it the lowest month in recorded history,” Banks wrote in an X post. The USBP chief went on to state that apprehensions will continue, representing a stark deviation from the Biden Administration’s “catch and release” policies.
“We will continue to detect, arrest, identify, prosecute and REMOVE all individuals who dare to break our country’s laws by entering illegally,” Banks concluded. “The border is closed to illegal immigration. Do not come.”
With just over 8,300 apprehensions last month, migrant encounters along the southern border have dropped by an astonishing 94 percent when compared with the 140,641 recorded last February. Since December, former President Biden’s final full month in office, encounters are down by 82 percent.
Chief Banks attributed the drop to a series of stringent measures enacted under President Trump’s administration. These include executive actions that have largely dismantled the U.S. asylum process and implemented expedited deportations, reversing several policies from the previous Biden administration that allowed certain migrants to enter the country legally.
Trump inspects border wall construction during a visit to Alamo, Texas in 2021
Official White House Photo
President Trump has made immigration enforcement a top priority of his second administration. Massive immigration raids targeting violent criminals and illegal aliens with criminal records began on January 20, the day Trump was sworn in, and have continued over his first 42 days in the White House.
In addition to the deterrence of immigration raids, the president signed a number of executive orders aimed at reducing border crossings, including the reimplementation of Remain in Mexico and the closure of a Biden era immigration system in which illegal aliens could set up an appointment for entering the United States through the now defunct CBP One app.
Trump has also moved to end the Biden Administration’s “catch and release” policies, which saw hundreds of thousands of border crossers transferred to the interior United States after receiving a court date.
As a result of the dramatic reduction in illegal border crossings and consistent messaging from the administration, several nongovernmental shelters that previously received millions in taxpayer funding have been closed. Such facilities played a massive role in transporting illegal aliens and asylum seekers to the U.S. interior.
During an interview at the Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, Banks pointed to the effectiveness of the administration’s stringent border policies. “The greater the punishment, the larger the deterrent,” the Border Patrol chief said.
“I can tell you this: anyone that has crossed the border between the ports of entry since this administration has taken office has not been released,” he noted. “You do not cross the border illegally and then make an asylum claim,” Banks continued. “You can go to the port of entry, or you can go to one of the embassies in your country and make your claim for asylum.”
