Trump Effect: Illegal Border Crossings Hit a New Low (But Will It Continue?)

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Border Czar Tom Homan made the announcement yesterday on X. The number of border encounters for the month of June was 6,070. That works out to just over 200 a day, a fraction of what the numbers were a year ago. Homan called it the Trump Effect:

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Also, none of the 6,070 were released into the U.S. ZERO.  President Trump has created the most secure border in the history of the nation and the data proves it.  We have never seen numbers this low. Never. God bless the men and women of the US Border Patrol and God bless the men and women of ICE.  The interior arrests and consequences help to drive down illegal immigration.  The TRUMP EFFECT keeps America winning.

Even the NY Times admits this is the lowest level in decades:

The number of people crossing the southern border illegally has dropped to levels not seen in decades, a sign that President Trump’s message of deterrence and his hard-line immigration policies are working to keep people out...

Adam Isacson, a border expert at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the border crossings in June were the lowest since the 1960s and were likely aided by the intensified immigration push, pointing to images of arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the sending of immigrants to El Salvador and other countries they are not from, and the holding of migrants at the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba...

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration largely struggled with the southern border, with monthly arrests peaking in December 2023 at nearly 250,000. After Mr. Biden moved to limit asylum at the border, the numbers dropped under 50,000 by the closing months of his administration — but never this low.

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Part of that success is the result of stepped up activity on the Mexican side of the border, something that people in Mexico say is working.

The question now is how long will the new normal last. Today a federal judge in DC said the administration could not continue to block migrants from seeking asylum.

In a 128-page order, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote that President Donald Trump cannot "adopt an alternative immigration system," saying that Trump has exceeded his legal authority as president.

In an executive order issued in January, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes "an invasion of America" and suspended the ability of migrants to seek asylum...

Judge Moss said he recognizes that while the executive branch "faces enormous challenges in preventing and deterring unlawful entry" into the U.S., neither the Constitution nor the Immigration and Nationality Act "provides the President with the unilateral authority to limit the rights of aliens present in the United States to apply for asylum."

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Maybe you're wondering how a federal judge can do this after the Supreme Court just ruled that federal judges don't have the power to create nationwide injunctions. That's true but the Supreme Court specifically left room for creating class action lawsuits and that's what Judge Moss did here. At the White House, Stephen Miller is putting the judge on blast.

AG Pam Bondi joined in:

Meanwhile, the ACLU is taking a victory lap.

"This is a hugely important decision. Not only will it save the lives of families fleeing grave danger, it reaffirms that the president cannot ignore the laws Congress has passed and the most basic premise of our country’s separation of powers," - ACLU says.

The border has been quiet and locked down with Trump's executive order in effect, with June seeing the lowest number of illegal crossings in recorded history.

The Trump admin will undoubtedly appeal...

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We'll have to wait and see what an appeals court does with this, but for now border encounters are at a historic low.

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