Written by Michael Palomba
For years we’ve heard from Democrats and Republicans alike that we have a crisis at the Southern Border. That was up until 2016, when Trump won the election, then Democrats deemed it “a manufactured crisis.” But numbers don’t lie, and they show that the crisis is far from manufactured.
According to The New York Times, “more than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February [2019].” That is nearly 10,000 more people than the entire population of South San Francisco.
However, despite pushback from Democrats, President Trump has been making major changes to our immigration system, and the data show that his tactics are working. According to Politico, border apprehensions totaled roughly 51,000 for the month of August—a 30 percent drop from the previous month. Politico also noted that “border arrests rose from July to August in the last 10 years, which suggests that the current drop is not related to recent historical patterns.”
So what exactly has Trump done to improve the situation at our Southern Border? There’s a long list, and The Washington Examiner sums it up well in their recent article covering 17 of President Trump’s immigration fixes that are reducing illegal border crossings, but here are the major improvements.
Limiting Access to Asylum
President Trump recently made a major change regarding who is eligible for asylum. The new rule states that any migrants who pass through a country that is deemed safe must apply for asylum there and be denied before they are eligible for an asylum claim in the United States.
Change to Public Charge Laws
Last month, the Trump Administration set stricter standards for green card applicants. The new standards aim to weed out those who receive public benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid. It also rewards those who are financially self-sufficient, educated, highly-skilled, and those who speak English by giving them priority.
Executive Order on Interior Enforcement
President Trump has used multiple executive orders to tackle interior issues regarding illegal immigration. One of the biggest targets of Executive Order 13768 is “sanctuary cities,” which act as a safe haven for illegals. This executive order allows the federal government to provide preferential treatment in awarding community policing grants to cities that cooperate with immigration authorities. Sanctuary cities do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, making it extremely difficult to track down and arrest illegal immigrants in these jurisdictions. Sanctuary cities will not even cooperate with federal immigration agents when an illegal immigrant has been arrested for committing a crime. This puts every citizen in this country at risk for the sole purpose of protecting lawbreakers.
The Wall
The wall was one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises. To this day, supporters still chant “Build the wall!” at his campaign rallies. It is arguably one of the most hated policies by Democrats and most loved by Republicans. To date, only 60 miles of pre-existing wall has been replaced with a 30-foot steel barrier. This is mostly due to legal hurdles created by Democrats, but many of those hurdles have been cleared as of late. One of the biggest wins for the wall and the Trump Administration took place in July of this year when the Supreme Court ruled that $2.5 billion in Pentagon money could be used for the construction of the wall. It is projected that by the end of 2020 there will be nearly 500 miles of new barriers constructed. The construction is targeting areas that suffer from high numbers of illegal migrant crossings. Access roads and lights are also going to be included in the construction to assist federal agents in patrolling the border.
Photo by Albuquerque Film Office via Flickr
