Homan said it's the lowest he's seen since President Reagan was in office
Tom Homan says Trump has taken ‘incredible action’ on the border
Border czar Tom Homan discusses President Donald Trump’s border security measures and more on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’
President Trump's border czar Tom Homan is touting the administration's dramatic drop in illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border compared to the Biden administration.
Homan took to X to say that Border Patrol "has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border."
"That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden," he said. "I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984, and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low."
HOMAN, AOC CLASH OVER WEBINAR TO HELP IMMIGRANTS' ‘EVADE’ ICE RAIDS: ‘I THOUGHT I EDUCATED HER’
Border czar Tom Homan speaks to reporters at the White House, Feb. 6, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
"President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering," he said.
In the last 24 hours the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden. I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984 and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.…
— Thomas D. Homan (@RealTomHoman) February 17, 2025
The Trump administration has come in with an agenda to launch a historic mass deportation campaign and to provide additional border security. Trump signed orders on day one restarting border wall construction, limiting the ability to claim asylum, declaring a national emergency and ending Biden-era parole programs.
Army Maj. Gen. Henry S. Dixon, left, talks with Marines near San Ysidro, California, Jan. 28, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is working with Homeland Security to add additional security to curtail illegal border crossings. (Department of Defense )
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
His administration has expanded expedited removal, removed limits on "sensitive places" on ICE agents, and launched raids across the country – while also suing "sanctuary" jurisdictions.
Fox News Digital reported last week that illegal immigrant arrests have soared. According to Department of Homeland Security data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8., compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR
Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year. Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538 – a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have gone up 59%.
Fox News also reported that the daily average number of known gotaways – illegal migrants who successfully entered the U.S. without apprehension – at the southern border since the beginning of February has plummeted to just 132 per day, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office.
On "America's Newsroom," Homan was asked when he is likely to run out of criminal illegal immigrant targets.
"We got almost 600,000 illegal aliens in the United States with a criminal conviction. So I won't be happy till we eradicate every one of those," he said.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
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