Trump’s Border Policies Turn the Tide on Migrant Crisis
President Trump has pinpointed immigration as the decisive factor in his 2024 election victory, and he’s swiftly moving to act on his commitments — implementing numerous measures to reform our immigration framework.
While both critics and supporters have concentrated on his efforts to terminate birthright citizenship and classify foreign drug cartels and criminal syndicates as terrorist groups, Trump’s other immigration policies are likely to create significant short-term effects.
Right after taking office, Trump restricted access to the CBP One app for inadmissible migrants looking for expedited entry into the United States.
Biden modified the app, originally designed during Trump’s first term to facilitate lawful travel, into a mechanism that encouraged illegal entry. As many as 43,500 illegal migrants used it monthly to cross border ports unlawfully.
This context is important to remember as advocates argue that border reforms aren’t required due to decreased apprehensions: Those hundreds of thousands of CBP One users had no more right to enter than other migrants who bypassed the legal process.
Reports from Congress indicate that approximately 96% of individuals utilizing the app were permitted entry without thorough vetting. Furthermore, in August, the DHS Inspector General revealed that 1,700 different users of the app listed only seven U.S. addresses as their intended destinations.
Trump also implemented a proclamation that suspends illegal entries outside designated ports, which, once enforced, will limit illegal migrants’ chances of applying for asylum, aiming to protect states from criminal aliens and conserve scarce public resources.
This measure is akin to one Trump introduced in 2018, Presidential Proclamation 9822, which similarly suspended asylum for migrants who crossed into the country unlawfully.
PP 9822 was intended to reinforce regulations from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that barred asylum requests from individuals who entered in violation of a proclamation, such as PP 9822.
These regulations faced legal challenges, but the Ninth Circuit did not finalize its order to block them until after Trump exited office, rendering it too late for him to seek a Supreme Court review.
This time, his administration is allowing legal challenges to progress through the courts before judges who are often unsupportive — ensuring that the Supreme Court will ultimately establish the final verdict.
Another executive order from Trump reinstates the construction of the federal “border wall system” — comprising fences, lights, cameras, and fiber-optic technology that enhance the effectiveness of Border Patrol agents working in remote and often dangerous areas.
When Biden suspended the border wall initiative shortly after taking office, he left agents literally “in the dark.” Trump’s response is clear: “Let there be light — and enforcement.”
Additionally, Trump’s order expands the available detention space for illegal migrants and criminal aliens.
Biden neglected congressional directives by refusing to detain criminal aliens, leaving states like Texas unable to compel the administration to take these criminals into custody.
Once Trump begins detaining migrants and criminals, illegal crossings should decrease significantly, leading to safer streets, provided Congress supports his plans with the necessary funding for detention.
Since Monday, illegal crossings have sharply declined, indicating that fewer detention spaces will be required for new arrivals.
However, as border coordinator Tom Homan increases interior arrests of criminal aliens, he’ll likely demand at least double the 40,000 detention beds currently available.
In response, another Trump order tasks the Defense Department with expanding its mission to include securing the border against drug traffickers and mass migration.
Historically, numerous presidential administrations, including that of Barack Obama, have detained migrants at military installations.
Military personnel have also constructed infrastructure, conducted surveillance, and fulfilled other “ancillary” border responsibilities.
In the coming weeks, expect an increase in all such operational activities.
Border agents will require all available assistance — and the Defense Department is prepared to provide it.
Trump has also pledged to “Make America Safe Again” by reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, initiated during his first term, which mandated that illegal entrants be returned across the border to await their asylum hearings.
The Remain in Mexico initiative effectively hindered migrants from exploiting the asylum system by submitting false claims, which allowed them to reside and work in the U.S. for extended periods while their applications were in process.
A federal review in October 2019 deemed it “an indispensable tool in addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border and restoring integrity to the immigration system.”
In contrast, Biden promptly paused the program and subsequently terminated it (twice), contesting all the way to the Supreme Court for the right not to send migrants back.
The last four years of border turmoil illustrate the outcome of that decision for the American populace.
In less than two days, the second Trump administration has laid out a comprehensive strategy that aims to restore security and order to our immigration system.
And from all indications, this is just the beginning.
Andrew Arthur is the fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.