President Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown has resulted in a 99.99 percent drop in the catch and release of migrants at the United States-Mexico border compared to the highest period of catch and release under former President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, the White House touted reporting from the Washington Times‘s Stephen Dinan which reveals that only 20 migrants were apprehended by Border Patrol and subsequently released from custody in February.
Meanwhile, in December 2023, the Biden administration saw close to 200,000 migrants apprehended and then released into the United States interior.
“You can’t get much better than that … thanks to President Trump, operational control of the border is becoming a reality,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“Illegal aliens are finally getting the blunt message: If you cross the border illegally, you will be swiftly deported and never return to the United States of America,” Leavitt continued.
According to Dinan’s reporting, Trump’s America First agenda has “drastically cut the chances of catch and release from 778 per 1,000 border crossers in December 2023 to just 2 per 1,000 in February.”
Aside from controlling the southern border, Trump is maximizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention space. Today, detention of illegal aliens is at its maximum capacity, with almost 48,000 illegal aliens in ICE custody.
The administration, though, is looking to hugely increase detention space. Its latest effort is to reopen a facility in Newark, New Jersey, which would add 1,000 more beds for ICE agents to use to hold criminal illegal aliens.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
