Border Burglars at Lowest Levels Ever, Thanks to President Trump & Border Czar Homan

[army judge]

Illegal border crossings have dropped to levels that have not been seen in more than two decades during President Donald Trump's first month in office, according to government statistics.

The Border Patrol last month reported apprehending about 8,450 migrants crossing into the United States between official entry points at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to preliminary statistics, reports CBS News Saturday.

The only other time monthly apprehensions came to being that low in the past 25 years also occurred when Trump was in office, with approximately 11,000 migrants being apprehended at the southwest border in April 2017, the agency's data shows.

In comparison, there were times during record spikes in illegal crossings under former President Joe Biden's administration that the Border Patrol would record more than 8,000 apprehensions in just one day.

The February totals could be adjusted somewhat when the government makes them official, but final tallies don't often show much deviation from preliminary figures.

Illegal border crossings were also dropping over the past year while Biden was still in office, after they had reached an all-time high in late 2023.

The numbers started dropping in early 2024 when Mexican officials pushed efforts to stop migrants before they reached the U.S. border and dropped more after Biden restricted asylum system access.

The apprehensions dropped further after Trump's inauguration in January. That month, Border Patrol agents recorded 29,000 apprehensions, down from 47,000 in December. The numbers dropped even more heading into February, which amounted to a decrease of about 70%.

According to the Trump administration, their crackdown on immigration has led to a decrease in illegal crossings.

The administration's moves have included empowering federal officials to deport migrants swiftly from the border without hearing their claims for asylum.

Under U.S. law, migrants on American soil can claim asylum to stop or delay deportation proceedings, but the Trump administration claims that there is an "invasion" of migrants and says that the asylum system has been abused by smugglers and people claiming asylum for economic reasons, which is not allowed.

Trump has also deployed thousands of military troops to the southern border and has ordered the use of military planes to deport migrants.

The administration is also considering bringing back the use of public health law Title 42 to expel migrants. The statute was used during the COVID pandemic and now could be used on the grounds that migrants can spread deadly diseases such as tuberculosis.

Meanwhile, Trump's border strategy has resulted in a quick decrease in numbers, but the administration's other moves to carry out his call for the largest deportation operation in U.S. history are hitting barriers.

These include frustrations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not carrying out enough deportations and arrests and concerns that ICE detention centers are too crowded.

The centers, as of Friday, were at 117% capacity, with more than 45,000 migrants. Just under half of those were first apprehended at the southern border, government records show.

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/border-crossing-trump/2025/03/01/id/1200972/

 

[Tax Counsel]

Newsmax is not a source I consider very objective. The author of that piece engages in a lot of pro-Trump speculation. The article makes it quite clear that the author doesn't really know the reason for the drop in border arrests, and less migrants attempting to enter the country is just one of the possibilities. Tellingly the author doesn't bother to explore any of the others. Apparently, once he/she reached his/her pro-Trump conclusion there was no need, in his/her view, to look any further.

One possible reason is that migrants are starting to hear of the increased inflation, large stock price drops and other poor economic indicators that have been coming out in the last several months and are having second thoughts about coming into a country with a worsening economy. Uncertainty and chaos are common contributors to worsening economic performance and increasing pessimism about the economy.

Even if the moves Trump is making are the right ones the way his administration is pursuing it looks a bit like the Keystone Cops. Nobody seems to hav a clear idea what the real end goal is and how these actions in Trump's first two months in office are going to help to get there. Trump was never great at putting out a clear, cohesive, and consistent message in his first term and it doesn't look like he learned anything from that first term to start out doing better in his second term.

I don't think Trump likes the day to day management tasks that CEOs and presidents have to do as a part of their job. It's not fun work and doesn't get your picture on the news. But it's the kind of work that's needed to lay the groundwork for Trump to get the broad approval he craves.