NOT SO FAST: Border Crossings Way Down in Trump’s America

We’re still not so sure what President Trump is thinking with his supposed deal with Democrats to save Obama’s DACA program, and we haven’t been 100% confident about the Wall’s construction in months. Additionally, recent court rulings have us wondering if there’s anything this president – or any president – can do about the 300 or so American cities that have declared themselves “sanctuaries” for illegal immigrants. This is not a war that will be easily won.

But it is a war that CAN be won, and you only have to look at a new report from the Department of Homeland Security to see that President Trump is, in fact, winning it. He’s winning it, big time, DACA amnesty or no DACA amnesty. Using arrest and survey data to come up with the latest, most accurate statistics, the DHS report finds that both border crossings and Border Patrol arrests are trending in the right direction.

“With respect to border enforcement outcomes, available data indicate the lowest number of illegal entries at least since 2000, and likely since the early 1970s,” the report said.

Not all of this success can be handed to President Trump, even though we’ve seen enormous drops in crossings since he took office. The report contends, however, that Trump’s efforts are part of a larger-scale, long-term trend in border security that has been happening since at least the year 2000. Since that time, Border Patrol officers have become much better at intercepting would-be illegal immigrants, which is – all by itself – having a significant impact on the number of Central and South Americans who make it through successfully.

If there is a political downside, it’s that these widespread improvements may make it even more difficult for President Trump to convince Congress to set aside the billions of dollars it would take to build the kind of border wall he promised last year. On the other hand, if he can properly prove to his voters that we can slash illegal immigration without spending enormous amounts of taxpayer money, he may escape unscathed – even if it amounts to a broken promise. After all, his supporters aren’t just big “wall” fans. They are fans of plugging the border, however that might be accomplished.