Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, recently returned from touring the U.S.-Mexico border last week where he said President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have had a “magical effect” when it comes to the dramatic decrease of illegal border crossings.
Bensman said he traveled to the Juarez and El Paso areas along the southern border where he said the numbers of gotaways and migrants who attempt to evade law enforcement are “at the lowest that they’ve ever been in history.”
“The numbers of illegal crossings are so low since Donald Trump had border patrol actually detain, report, and refer to prosecution. Brand new policy down there seems to be having an amazing magical effect,” Bensman said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Bensman said the elevated risk of apprehension and deportation under the new policies of the Trump administration have simply deterred migrants from crossing the border illegally and presenting themselves to border patrol agents.
“Remember, [under the Biden administration], hundreds of thousands a month would cross and present themselves voluntarily to border patrol because the agency was under orders to admit them into the country right away…But there are no more give ups at all. None. Nobody is stupid enough to give themselves up because you’re just going to be immediately detained and deported or referred for prosecution,” Bensman explained.
Now, Bensman said migrants who are still adamant about crossing into the U.S. will attempt to run across the border and evade law enforcement; however, he noted the numbers of “runners” have also decreased as a result of the Trump administration’s policies.
“Runner traffic, which is people hiding and trying to evade, and gotaways are at the lowest that they’ve ever been in history. Nobody’s really running. There’s a few here and there that they’ll catch but even that is extremely down and suppressed because the risk of apprehension is so great that nobody wants to pay the money for it,” Bensman said.
Bensman said the increased risk of being caught and deported has led the cartels along the border to raise their prices of aiding migrants into the U.S., which has also led to decreased numbers.
“The money that the cartel is charging is exorbitant. Now, from interviewing immigrants on the other side, its anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000 to just be dropped on the Texas or the New Mexico side of the border, not to be guided all the way to a waiting vehicle at a highway or a stash house, which is the way it always worked,” Bensman said.
“The reason why is because they’re apprehending the smugglers and prosecuting the heck out of them, so it’s extremely high risk and they’re charging fees that reflect the risk,” Bensman added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
