2025 in review: Historic border security actions taken by Trump

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

On the first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump issued multiple executive orders, followed by multiple policy changes, that in one year resulted in the “most secure border in U.S. history,” his administration claims.

On his first day in office, Trump issued a series of border security orders “to protect America from invasion.” He declared an invasion at the southwest border, suspending entry. He did so after 55 Texas counties were the first and only ones to declare an invasion during the Biden administration, changing the national conversation, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Trump next reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, directed the U.S. military to implement border security and deployed an initial 1,500 troops to the southwest border. By February, he’d declared a national emergency at the northern border, designated multiple cartels, gangs and transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, launched an initiative for foreign nationals to self-deport, register with the federal government and be fined for noncompliance, The Center Square reported.

By March, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelan FTO-designated Tren de Aragua members from the country, began construction on the border wall along the southwest border and deployed more than 10,000 troops to the southwest border.

Within months, regional federal joint task forces were aggressively targeting MS-13 and TdA members, making major busts in Texas cities and in rural areas like Nebraska, where an alleged MS-13 assassin was arrested. Federal authorities also apprehended major cartel traffickers, including a baby organ harvester, and human smugglers coming from Canada. By December, U.S. attorneys had brought charges against hundreds of TdA members nationwide, including its top leaders, charging them with terrorism for the first time in U.S. history.

In his first 100 days in office, Trump’s National Counterterrorism Center had identified nearly 1,200 alleged terrorists illegally in the U.S., The Center Square reported. By October, it said it had prevented 6,525 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) into the U.S. By December, the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) had identified at least 18,00 KSTs released into the U.S. by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

By April, the Trump administration began targeting sanctuary cities whose Democratic leaders refused to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement; by May, hundreds of sanctuary jurisdictions had been identified in 35 states.

Simultaneously, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up removal operations, targeting violent criminals, the previously deported and those with removal orders from a federal judge. Deportations totaled more than 600,000, The Center Square reported. The deportation efforts sparked massive, sometimes violent protests targeting ICE agents across the country. Critics said the Trump administration’s deportation policies weren’t just targeting violent criminals, but individuals who had been in the country for years, held jobs, and were contributing to their communities.

Trump terminated Biden administration parole programs, including many “Temporary Protective Status” programs and most country specific programs, like CHNV (Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela). Federal district judges’ attempts to halt new policies were largely overturned including by the U.S. Supreme Court, The Center Square reported. The Trump administration also implemented sweeping visa restrictions and reforms.

By July, policy results were apparent: illegal border crossings reached their lowest level in recorded U.S. history. By October, illegal entries at the southwest border reached the lowest level recorded since 1970, The Center Square reported.

By October, more than two million illegal foreign nationals had been removed, The Center Square reported. That number increased to more than 2.5 million in December. It includes 1.9 million who self-deported and more than 622,000 who ICE deported.

Illegal border crossings continued their historic downward trajectory into November, representing the lowest numbers ever reported at the beginning of a fiscal year in recorded U.S. history, The Center Square reported. Fiscal 2026 began Oct. 1.

Under the Trump administration, illegal border crossings were down 93% from the previous year.

By November, apprehensions of illegal foreign nationals at the southwest border were down to an average of 245 per day – a number Border Patrol agents apprehended in less than an hour – out of thousands a day – during the Biden administration.

Border Patrol apprehensions averaged under 10,000 every month since Trump’s been in office, “a level of sustained deterrence unmatched in modern border history,” DHS said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection hiring increased by 42.5%, Border Patrol by 84%, in one year. This is a marked reversal from the low morale expressed during the Biden administration, including record high Border Patrol suicides, The Center Square reported.

This year, ICE received more than 220,000 applications and has hired 11,751 new law enforcement officers, criminal investigators, attorneys and support staff, ICE said. Border Patrol applications also reached their highest numbers in recorded history this year.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received more than 50,000 applications – the highest in agency history this year. That’s up from a record 35,000 as of Sept. 30, The Center Square reported. The U.S. Coast Guard also surpassed its recruiting goals among enlisted, officers and reservists, breaking multiple records this year.