A border milestone the left hoped you would not notice
The Trump administration says it has now gone a full year with zero releases at the southern border, and that is not a small line item hidden in some dusty report. It means Border Patrol is no longer letting illegal border crossers go straight into the country after being caught, which was a defining feature of the Biden years. Customs and Border Protection said the change reflects a hard turn away from catch-and-release, a policy name that always sounded like something dreamed up by a bureaucracy with a caffeine problem. Officials say the result is plain to see, with fewer crossings, fewer releases, and a border policy that finally looks like it belongs to a nation that still believes laws matter.
The numbers tell a very different story than last year
CBP said Border Patrol recorded 8,943 apprehensions along the southwest border in April, which the agency said was 94% lower than the Biden administration’s monthly average and 96% below the December 2023 peak. The agency also said the April daily average of 298 apprehensions was lower than a single hour during the height of the Biden surge, when Border Patrol was reportedly averaging 336 apprehensions per hour in December 2023. So yes, that is what border control looks like when someone actually decides to control the border. CBP also said total encounters so far this fiscal year stand at 215,876, a figure the agency said is 13% lower than the total recorded in April 2024 alone.
Trump officials say the chaos has been replaced with enforcement
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, “The days of catch and release are over,” and argued the government is now enforcing the nation’s laws and sending illegal aliens back to their home countries. CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott said, “What a difference,” noting that Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into the country in April, compared with more than 68,000 in April 2024 under President Biden. That is the kind of contrast that does not require a focus group to understand. The Trump team says this is proof that strong enforcement works and that American families are safer when the border is not treated like an open invitation.
Drugs, asylum, and the fight over what comes next
CBP also pointed to drug seizures, saying nationwide seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana by weight rose 60% from April 2024. The agency said it seized 463 pounds of fentanyl in April and has seized 61% more drugs so far this fiscal year than during the same period in FY 2024. Immigration advocate Aaron Reichlin-Melnick said the “zero releases” claim appears true for Border Patrol custody, but argued some migrants are still later released after transfer to ICE or after other legal steps. He also said Trump’s policies have sharply reduced crossings, though he criticized the administration for tightening asylum access. That complaint may land well in progressive circles, but most Americans are still asking a simple question: if the border was a mess, why is anyone upset that it finally got fixed?
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