The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week that the United States has gone one full year without any illegal migrants apprehended at the southwest border being released into the United States.
According to DHS, illegal border apprehensions have fallen 94 percent compared to levels seen during the Biden administration, with daily crossing numbers now lower than what agents once faced in a single hour during the peak of the 2023 border crisis.
“Twelve straight months of ZERO releases at the border. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, we are delivering the most secure border in American history,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “The days of catch and release are over. We are enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries.”
By comparison, two years ago Border Patrol agents operating under directives from President Joe Biden and former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released more than 68,000 migrants apprehended at the border into the interior of the United States, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott.
“What a difference, America!” Scott said in a written statement on Friday.
DHS shared the following border enforcement figures from the past 12 months with Breitbart Texas: Southwest border apprehensions declined 94% compared to the Biden administration; fiscal year border crossings are below the historical monthly average of the past 30 years; average daily apprehensions in April were down 94% from Biden-era levels; total CBP encounters this fiscal year remain below April 2024 levels alone
The department also highlighted increased drug interdiction efforts, saying CBP officers and Border Patrol agents have been able to shift resources away from processing migrants and toward security operations.
According to DHS, authorities have seized significantly larger quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana as manpower has been redirected toward enforcement.
“CBP has seized 61% more drugs this fiscal year through April than it seized during the same period of FY 2024, and CBP seized 53% more drugs this fiscal year than it seized on average during the last four years in this same period,” DHS reported.