The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) report a 95% drop in southwest border apprehensions compared to the Biden Administration, along with the lowest annual encounters in American history and the first fiscal year with zero Border Patrol releases.
The agencies also report that yearly apprehensions (98,708) were 60% lower than the Biden Administration’s single-highest month (249,740).
Additionally, total nationwide encounters were the lowest in agency history at 379,243, compared with 2.7 million per year under Biden (seven times higher). Encounters were 88% lower than in 2023 under Biden, which was the highest yearly total ever.
During the Biden administration, scenes like the one shown in the photo above were common as authorities encountered hundreds of migrants at a time, mostly along the Texas border with Mexico.
And while encounters with large groups illegally crossing the border have mostly ended, the Texas Border is anything but quiet.
Earlier this month, the US sent hundreds of troops to the Texas Rio Grande Valley after a Coast Guard patrol boat crew exchanged gunfire with members of a Mexican cartel. No further reports of violence have been reported, but the river and the area around the riverbank on the U.S. side are now swarming with heavily armed soldiers and law enforcement personnel - and Mexican soldiers are also jointly patrolling their side of the river.
Besides reducing illegal crossings, all of this law enforcement activity is producing other positive results. The CBP says migrant deaths due to drowning or heat exposure have fallen nearly 80% compared to the Biden Administration.
And, with human smuggling activity down, Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers are freed up to concentrate on apprehending cartel drug smugglers. As a result, CBP drug seizures are running 63% higher than the average of the last four years.
Do you feel safer because of today’s reports about border security by the Department of Homeland Security?
Share your thoughts in the comments to this article.
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
