White House Touts Border Progress

By Casey Harper | The Center Square

(Worthy News) – The White House over the weekend touted its progress on the southern border as President Donald Trump completed his fourth week back in office.

“Encounters of illegal immigrants at our southern border are plummeting and migrants are starting to realize it’s fruitless to attempt to illegally cross our border,” the White House said Saturday in a statement.

Upon taking office, Trump issued a series of executive orders ending Biden administration policies that allowed asylum seekers to flood into America. On his second day in office, the president sent 1,500 active-duty service members and additional air and intelligence assets.

Border crossing attempts are down more than 90% from the same time last year, according to data first obtained by the New York Post.

“Border numbers are down over 90% in three weeks,” Tom Homan, the pick by Trump called border czar, said during an interview on Fox News. “When you got 90% less people coming across the border, how many women aren’t being raped by the cartels? How many children aren’t drowning? How many women and children aren’t being sex trafficked in this country? President Trump is a gamechanger.”

Multiple media reports indicate many people headed from other countries to the United States have since changed their mind and headed back home.

The White House pointed out a Wednesday story from The Washington Times showing officials in Costa Rica and Panama are meeting to discuss how to handle the large number of people who had been waiting in Mexico to enter the United States but have since given up and are returning to South America.

The administration also linked a Thursday story from Telemundo saying “migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Columbia and Venezuela are heading back home” instead of continuing to America. And the White House linked a Thursday story from El Cronista saying the Mexican government provided a $9.3 million contract for 140 shelters to help with people “returning to Mexico.”

Policies during the Biden administration allowed 12 million people to enter the country, most given dates to appear with immigration officials much later. The volume pushed many of those appointments beyond a year and even 18 months. A surge in fentanyl accompanied the timing.

Trump, the second term Republican, has reversed the trend. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and specifically ICE Enforcement and Removal regional offices, across the country have helped move many people illegally in the country back to their native homelands.

Trump also threatened tariffs against Mexico if it did not help fix the problem. To temporarily avert the tariffs, Mexico’s president agreed to deploy thousands more troops to the southern border.

In another reversal, the Biden administration worked – including litigation – to block Texas from installing border security measures like barbed wire and buoys in the river to keep people from swimming across.

In a social media post Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote, “Texas installed more buoys into the Rio Grande the SAME day President Trump returned to office. The Biden administration tried – and FAILED – to keep Texas from using this effective border security tactic.

“Now, we have a President who is partnering with Texas to deny illegal entry.”

Reprinted with permission from The Center Square.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

More Worthy News

Evangelist Graham Urges Prayers As Anti-ICE Protests Spread Following Killing
Evangelist Graham Urges Prayers As Anti-ICE Protests Spread Following Killing
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

American evangelist Franklin Graham has urged prayers for the United States and its leaders, saying “the radical socialist left” is seeking the destruction of the nation after the killing of a Christian woman by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Advocates Alarmed Over Scale Christian Persecution in China, India; Millions Facing Raids and Church Attacks
Advocates Alarmed Over Scale Christian Persecution in China, India; Millions Facing Raids and Church Attacks
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Christian activists say religious freedom is under “unprecedented threat” in China and India, citing a sharp escalation in government actions and extremist violence targeting believers.

Trump Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as Terrorist Organizations in Sweeping Crackdown
Trump Designates Muslim Brotherhood Branches in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as Terrorist Organizations in Sweeping Crackdown
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

The administration of Donald Trump has formally designated three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, following through on a long-signaled policy shift that could reverberate across U.S. relations in the Middle East, including with allies Qatar and Turkey.

Trump Tells Iranians ‘Help Is on the Way,’ Cancels Talks as Protests Rock Islamic Republic
Trump Tells Iranians ‘Help Is on the Way,’ Cancels Talks as Protests Rock Islamic Republic
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Iranians to continue protesting against the Islamic Republic, declaring that “help is on the way” as reports mount of a sweeping and deadly crackdown on nationwide demonstrations.

IDF Launches ‘Hoshen’ Five-Year Plan Focusing on AI, Robotics, Space Warfare
IDF Launches ‘Hoshen’ Five-Year Plan Focusing on AI, Robotics, Space Warfare
Monday, January 12, 2026

Israel’s military is moving ahead with an ambitious modernization effort as IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir initiates concrete steps to implement a new five-year strategic plan aimed at reshaping the battlefield of the future.

Trump Announces 25% Tariff On Nations Doing Business With Iran
Trump Announces 25% Tariff On Nations Doing Business With Iran
Monday, January 12, 2026

President Donald Trump on Monday said any nation that does business with Iran will face a 25% tariff on imports as massive protests in the Islamic Republic continue into a third week.

NATO Chief Urges Allies to Protect Greenland Amid US Military Threats
NATO Chief Urges Allies to Protect Greenland Amid US Military Threats
Monday, January 12, 2026

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has urged alliance members to jointly protect Greenland, as a senior European Union official warned that any U.S. military takeover of the strategic Arctic territory would spell the end of NATO.