The Border Patrol has just completed its best fiscal year since 1970 when it comes to the southern border, where agents seized fewer than 240,000 people trying to sneak in across the Mexican boundary.
And most of those apprehensions came in the last 3 1/2 months of the Biden administration, making the numbers for the new Trump administration even more stunning.
The government has also completely ended catch-and-release along the southwest border, tallying its fifth straight month of no releases by the Border Patrol.
“We have had the most secure border in American history, and our end-of-year numbers prove it,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
The numbers, unthinkable a year ago, have now become routine.
Customs and Border Protection said in September it tallied about 26,000 encounters nationwide, which includes arrests and encounters at all borders and ports of entry. That’s 89% lower than the monthly average under the Biden administration.
At the southern border specifically, agents averaged 279 arrests a day in September. The Biden administration averaged 5,000 a day over its four years.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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