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U.S.-Mexico Border Transformed Under Trump’s Policies

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Fieldwork undertaken by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals a border now under control, offering clear evidence that the border crisis was never an unstoppable force but rather the result of policy decisions.

Last week the Center sent analysts to the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector and across the border to Tijuana, and to the El Paso Sector and across the border to Juarez. These two border sectors had some of the heaviest migrant traffic over the last few years, but now the numbers have plummeted.

Center researchers Andrew Arthur and Todd Bensman join Parsing Immigration Policy to discuss what they saw and what policies are making the difference, and three tools in particular:

  1. Infrastructure – Expanded fencing and additional concertina wire have been added.
  2. Manpower – Border Patrol agents are forward-deployed, no longer being pulled off the line for processing migrants.
  3. Criminal Prosecutions – Not only are apprehended migrants no longer being released, but illegal entry is increasingly being handled as a criminal offense, with first-time illegal-crossers facing up to six months in a federal penitentiary.

In his closing commentary, host Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director, explains the Alien Enemies Act, enacted in 1798, which is now in the headlines due to the Trump administration using it as the basis for the swift deportation of a group of Venezuelan gang members. The law can only be triggered by a declared war, an invasion, or a predatory incursion by a foreign nation or government. Its application faces legal challenges and will likely reach the Supreme Court.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guests

Andrew Arthur is a Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Todd Bensman is a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Related

A Border 'Peace Dividend'

Eye-Popping February CBP Numbers Show How the Border Has Changed under Trump

The 225-year-old 'Alien Enemies Act' Needs to Come Out of Retirement

Trump Prepares to Use of the Alien Enemies Act

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

  • Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
  • Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
  • President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
  • Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
  • Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
  • Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
  • Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
  • Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
  • Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".
Host:
Mark Krikorian