President Donald Trump’s border crackdown has resulted in a 99% reduction of crossings and sent such a strong stay away message to possible illegal migrants that the main passage way to the United States has seen traffic drop 99.5%.
Pete Flores, the acting commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, revealed on Thursday that the administration is also working at lightning speed to construct new barriers to illegal immigration that surged to historic highs under former President Joe Biden.
At an appropriations hearing on Thursday, Flores plans to tell members that the processing of immigrants is down 99% compared to Biden’s record a year ago. And the crisis of the crime gang “coyotes” pushing children across the border has essentially ended.
“Starting January 21, 2025, immigration processing actions at ports of entry decreased by 99% compared to the same time frame in 2024. Office of Field Operations saw a 93% decrease in inadmissibility encounters at Southwest Border ports of entry, including a 94% decrease in unaccompanied alien children,” according to his statement provided to the Homeland Security subcommittee.
The main passageway that migrants from as far away as China use to funnel into Central America for their march to America’s southern border has seen an even bigger decrease, according to Flores.
“Additionally, traditional migrant corridors are seeing historically low numbers. For example, the number of migrants passing through the Darien Gap in Panama decreased 99.5% from 36,841 in March 2024 to 194 in March of 2025,” he said in his testimony reviewed by Secrets.
That suggests that illegal migrants have received the message from Trump’s team that the border is closed. It is also a sign of the diplomatic success the administration has had in getting Latin American allies to help with the migrant crisis.
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Drug trafficking across the border is also down, though still happening, according to Flores.
“CBP and its partners seized more than 13,348 pounds of illegal drugs, $1.97 million in illicit U.S. currency, and 180 weapons, and arrested 317 individuals affiliated with transnational criminal organizations. It’s clear that the increased frontline security presence by CBP and DoD, and increased enforcement by our Mexican and Canadian counterparts, in the past four months has deterred and disrupted transnational criminal organization activity. However, the amount of illegal drugs approaching our border is still alarmingly high,” he said.