President Donald Trump's border czar says he can't remember fewer illegal southern border crossings than what's occurring after nearly one month of the new administration.
Tom Homan took to social media Monday to give a status update on the U.S.-Mexico border, which saw a record number of illegal crossings under former President Joe Biden.
"In the last 24 hours the U.S. Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden. I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, and I don't remember the numbers ever being that low. President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering," Homan posted on X.
Arrests for illegal crossings have fallen dramatically from an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023, perhaps most strikingly in the Rio Grande Valley, the epicenter for migrant arrivals from 2013 to 2022.
Associated Press journalists accompanying Border Patrol agents in an SUV and in speedboats that traversed 30 miles along the Rio Grande Valley and river for five hours Thursday didn't encounter a single migrant.
When Trump took office on Jan. 20, arrests were already at their lowest levels since 2019 and have fallen even more sharply in recent weeks.
Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley, home to 1.4 million people, have been making about 50 arrests a day, down from a daily average of 325 in December and nearly 3,000 on the busiest days of 2021.
Migrant shelters in Texas that previously housed nearly 1,000 people a day at the height of the border crisis are now almost empty following actions by the Trump administration that have effectively sealed the border, The Texas Tribune reported.
Officials in McAllen, Texas, reported that an average of fewer than 12 people per day have been arriving at Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley respite center this month. The shelter is on track to receive fewer than 350 people in February, down from 3,188 in January.
Homan and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Texas on Feb. 3 to visit troops at the southern border. It was Hegseth's first trip since being confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 24.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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