President Trump stood before a packed arena at Clemson University on Wednesday night and delivered the verdict on the border in a single sentence. “And in the past 17 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States,” the President said.
“Less than two years ago, the radical left Democrats handed us the dark age of America, but we quickly turned it … we are in the golden age of America. There’s never been a time like this,” Trump told the South Carolina crowd. “We achieved the most secure border in American history. Remember our border when the millions and millions of people poured through, totally unchecked, totally unvetted?”
The White House numbers back him up. According to the White House, catch-and-release is over, delivering 17 straight months of zero releases at the border and zero Border Patrol releases in fiscal year 2026, the first fiscal year in U.S. history with that result. The United States recorded negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years, a milestone the Department of Homeland Security marked again on Wednesday: “We’re putting Americans First.”
The illegal alien population has been reduced by at least 2.3 million, with more than three million migrants leaving the country during President Trump’s second term. Nearly 1.2 million illegal aliens have been deported or removed, illegal southern border crossings are down 95 percent from Biden-era levels, and nationwide encounters in FY2026 fell under 380,000, the lowest in agency history, compared with roughly 2.7 million a year under Biden.
The results reach far past the border line. The White House reports fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has collapsed by 56 percent, fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22 percent in a single year, and more than 12,100 gang members have been arrested, including more than 1,500 Tren de Aragua affiliates. With the Nov. 3 midterms 12 days away, President Trump is reminding voters exactly who closed the border.
