President-elect Donald Trump will take office just days from now, bringing with him the promise to finally restore order at the U.S.-Mexico border and end the worst illegal immigration crisis in American history. But it’s not soon enough to prevent more bad news in the waning hours of Biden’s presidency.
This week, for the final time before Biden leaves office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released monthly data on border crossings, reporting 96,048 illegal crossings in December of last year. In total for 2024, CBP reported 1.6 million encounters along the Southwest border. This was apparently a drastic improvement from the 2.5 million encounters in 2023.
But as is seemingly always the case with the Biden administration, this “good news” masks a far less rosy reality. In addition to those 96,048 illegal crossers, CBP also reported that the administration allowed nearly 1.5 million migrants to enter the country “legally” through the CBP One app and migrant flights last month – programs rife with controversy that Trump has promised to cancel on day one.
As AMAC Newsline reported last September, the Biden administration went all out to sell “success” on the border by re-categorizing millions of migrants from “illegal” to “legal” status. Specifically, since the official statistics for illegal border crossings only include individuals apprehended “between points of entry,” the Biden administration has done everything it can to funnel migrants to points of entry, promising free access into the United States.
From there, millions of migrants have been admitted either through rampant abuse of the president’s parole authority or blatant corruption in the asylum system via programs like the CBP One app. Those admitted under dubious asylum claims are given court dates, sometimes as far as 10 years in the future.
An army of left-wing NGOs then funnels untold numbers of migrants throughout the country, even paying for flights to sanctuary cities. Airports and even schools have been overrun with the flood of new arrivals, wreaking havoc on government services and disadvantaging taxpaying American citizens.
This coordinated attempt at what is in effect extralegal mass amnesty was the final act of Biden’s border catastrophe. Not only did a sitting President of the United States do nothing to stop millions of unknown individuals from flooding into the country, he openly invited them in and then granted them pseudo-legal status.
The true scope of the border invasion that has occurred over the last four years will likely never be fully known. The best estimates put the total number of illegal crossings somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-20 million. At least two million of those are “gotaways,” or individuals who escaped into the interior of the country completely undetected.
Just before the election, the country also learned the staggering number of criminal illegal aliens who now reside in the United States thanks to Joe Biden. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, there are currently at least 425,000 convicted criminals living in the United States illegally. That figure includes 16,000 individuals convicted of sexual assault, 57,000 convicted of drug crimes, and 13,000 convicted of murder.
Trump has promised to start “the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America” on day one of his second term. He has specifically said he plans to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to begin the removal of illegals and “dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”
That’s welcome news for the American people, but it comes tragically too late for families who have seen first-hand the violence and destruction wrought by Biden’s border invasion. The senseless killing of nursing student Laken Riley by a twice-arrested illegal alien became a flashpoint in last year’s election, but Riley’s family was hardly the only one to suffer the consequences of Biden’s open border.
In another high-profile case, criminal gangs of illegal aliens reportedly took over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. The street gang Tren de Aragua has meanwhile taken advantage of the open border and blazed a path of violence across the country, terrorizing and victimizing American citizens.
The political backlash to this shocking breakdown in law and order was swift and decisive. 72 percent of voters said immigration was either extremely or very important to them in last year’s election, and there is no doubt that this played a significant role in sinking Biden “border czar” Kamala Harris’s bid for the White House.
Of all the harm that the Biden administration has done to the country, its shameful legacy on the border is perhaps the most damaging of all. While Americans can expect major changes when Trump takes the oath of office again, families who have lost loved ones to criminal illegal aliens will never get them back. Young people forced to endure the horrors of human trafficking will never regain their innocence. Families and communities devastated by fentanyl and other deadly drugs will never fully recover what was lost.
Remembering this somber reality makes Trump’s mission all the more urgent. Americans should never again have to read another monthly report detailing a failure on the part of their government to keep them safe and perform the most basic duties of a sovereign nation to protect and secure its borders.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
The 50+years of senator biden & then his 4yrs as resident biden is a complete & total failure as all that time rolled up into 1 great big F-A-I-L-U-R-E.
The past four years have been a disaster and Biden is clueless!
BIDEN IS A TRADER TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and BELONGS IN PRISON FOR LIFE FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE TO AMERICA FOR HIS ENTIRE POLITICAL LIFE. HE HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING FOR AMERICA.
Not just open border, but also open invitation to illegals, transporting them by plane, housing them and giving them monthly welfare benefits while citizen’s needs were all ignored, is treason. Because there is a malicious intent of including illegals in the CENSUS to increase ELECTORS is the TREASONOUS CRIME the Democrats has committed. Congress of course is aware of it, let’s see what they’ll do about it?
Calling Biden’s border policies a “failure” assumes it wasn’t intentional. Bill Buckners error in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series was a “failure”; Biden’s border policy was more akin to the 1923 “Black Sox” Scandal to throw the series… it was meant to “lose”!
If truth and justice were served, the rotten communist Biden would be tried and executed for treason.
The true scope of the ILLEGAL ALIEN invasion at the border is that it only takes one ILLEGAL ALIEN to impact thousands of American citizens’ lives. Case in point, the California wildfires and the ILLEGAL ALIEN using a blow torch to set fires there. Another example is the preventable yet tragic murders of American citizens by ILLEGAL ALIENS who never should have been here in the first place. DJT, please get them the hell out of our country, and SCREW the liberal judges and sanctuary cities/states that will stand in the way!!!! MAGA!!!!
What truly amazes me is the lack of will by the Republican party to bring any form of Legal proceedings against Biden for what seems to be treasonous behavior. Obversely, If this was Republican behavior, the Democrat Law Dogs would be on this like white on rice. Joe Biden should be held accountable and made to pay for such un-constitutional acts. Democrats aren’t the only ones who can wield the sword of justice.
For the murderers in the invader/illegals, we need to either implement the death penalty, or for sure deport, without any discussion. These invaders many had criminal backgrounds and a senile president, or whoever was doing his job, allowed this travesty on our nation, now we will need to spend more to remove them. Its my humble opinion that the death penalty needs to be brought back, its constitutional, for murderers of innocent citizens and law enforcement officers, IMO. Its the only threat that is effective in stopping the killing.
Biden reminds me of a spoiled child – getting, getting, GETTING – NO giving. Nobody has taken the time to even TRY to correct him. He acts like a snippy, selfish, lying person with a chip on his shoulder – and refuses to look at himself in the mirror. Continuously LYING. Instead of gaining Wisdom, sadly, he is a shameful example of what old age can turn out to be without repentance or reflection. I just read in Genesis how Jacob had to put up with his uncle Laban, who changed Jacob’s ‘wages ten times.’ Even when confronted by God ‘not to say anything good or bad’ to Jacob, Laban still complained, THEN repeated what GOD said (Genesis 31). At least Jacob was part of GOD’s promise and had hope – we still have hope – trusting in The LORD. America has suffered through the reign of Biden and Harris (who was more of a hologram than an active participant) and the slothful and contrary actions of their pitiful cabinet, staff, and Democrat controlled Congress. GOD has had mercy on us in 2025. We have seen progressivism; now we have a chance to get back to Constitutional government and trying to fix the economy. But still, I am grateful for the hope we have now, by GOD’s grace. I, along with many others, are praying for an outpouring of GOD’s Spirit on this nation, and for HIM to draw people to HIM in His Salvation. Thank you for letting me share, and reading numerous comments of worth. John 3, v. 16
Biden has let in criminals, unaccompanied minors who nobody knows where they are. He has personally send planes to pick up these invaders and in the dead of night drop them off somewhere in the country. These people are not asylum seekers. The cartels are making money hand over fist shipping these people here. And the NGO’s along with govt organizations are facilitating these people along the way. Providing food shelter and transportation. If you see the people arriving at the border they don’t look like they traveled thousands of miles on foot. Their expensive sneakers look they were just bought. Biden has destroyed America for decades to come. He has allowed a country to move here in the past 4 years. 20 million people. He is breaking every state, city and county budget to take care of them. The immigration law is not being followed. Biden has broken the immigration laws from day one of his presidency. The burden on the taxpayer is enormous. Enough to bankrupt this country. Which is their plan. The billionaires like Soros, Gates, Pritzker, and many others have sold this country into communism. Many people don’t see it because they have been brainwashed into hatred anything Trump. Biden not only destroyed America he also destroyed the 20 million people who came to America on Biden’s invitation. He invited them in and then forgot about them. He wanted the border states to take care of them. The man should have never been a candidate for president let alone president. But with voter fraud and big bucks from the billionaires who rule the DNC, deep state and MSM propaganda, mandates and EO’s they got it done. The biggest fraud of all was the Pandemic. Should Biden be arrested? Should he have been impeached? For sure but the powers that be bought him freedom from these charges. After all they thought he would win again in 2024. He still thinks he did. The worst president since Jimmy Carter. Only Biden is evil. And that is the scary part that his base doesn’t see.
All true, unfortunately. Pray for Trump. Pray for this administration. Pray for their safety, and pray they have at least some success reversing this national security and humanitarian disaster.
I am 900 miles from the border. I look forward to the day when I can walk thru the local Walmart and hear English being spoken again.
By far Joe Biden was the worst President in the history of the United States. From his choice of running mate to his last few weeks in office with unjustifiable pardons. The left got just exactly what it voted for, while the rest of America suffered for 4 years. Presidential Medals of Freedom to undeserving DC crooks. That use to be an honor, but no more. Just bow out Joe, go home.
The pathetic part of Biden’s border crisis is that the native countries the criminals arae from emptied their jails and sent them here and now refuse to take them back. So we’ll have to see what happens on that front. But Homan has his hands full for sure.