After seeing reports that border crossings have plummeted dramatically, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, sent a team to the border to see if the situation really has changed since January 20, when Donald Trump was inaugurated.
"What we're hearing from the locals down here is that it changed overnight,” Ira Mehlman, media director for FAIR, tells AFN.
Mehlman says FAIR visited the border area of Cochise County, Arizona. The sheriff’s department there told FAIR an average of 8,000 illegal aliens were crossing into the U.S. through Cochise County every month last year. In January, only 617 illegal aliens were encountered there by the U.S. Border Patrol.
Tom Homan, the border czar for President Trump, similarly reported the Border Patrol encountered 229 illegal immigrants during a 24-hour period on February 17. Back in 2023, the overwhelmed Border Patrol was counting that number of illegals every 30 minutes.
In a related article for FAIR, Mehlman credits several actions by President Trump and his administration for changing the flow of illegal immigrants to a trickle. One reason is tough immigration policies, enacted by executive order Jan. 20, such as ignoring “sanctuary” jurisdictions that hide illegals; targeting dangerous criminals and gang members; and ending public benefits to illegals.
All of those immigration policies, 23 actions in all, are named in the 3,000-word executive order, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”
A second reason for the reduced number of illegal aliens is cancelling the CBP One app, according to FAIR and Mehlman.
Yet another reason for the dramatic drop in border crossings, Mehlman writes, is the Trump administration is carrying out its promise of mass deportations. Many illegal aliens witnessing that happen voluntarily return to their home country, he said, and many others turn around before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.
The dramatic drop proves illegal immigration is not some “phenomenon of nature,” like bad weather, that cannot be controlled or stopped, Mehlman points out.
“We can control it,” Mehlman tells AFN, “and we've controlled it pretty quickly."
