The Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, made his first official visit to the border with Mexico on Wednesday, marking the first visit by a senior White House member since President Donald Trump took office. Accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, they visited Border Patrol facilities in Eagle Pass, Texas, and held meetings with Texas government officials, including Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, close allies of Trump.
During a press conference, Vance praised his administration's tough immigration policies, linking them to the decrease in irregular crossings at the Mexico border. In his words: "It turns out we didn't need new laws or fancy legislation, but a new president."
According to official data, the number of irregular crossings at the southern border decreased by 38% in January compared to December of last year, the last month of former President Joe Biden's administration. Although the February numbers have not yet been released, Trump mentioned that Border Patrol apprehended about 8,326 people at the border last month, which would be the lowest figure in apprehensions since the year 2000, when the U.S. began collecting monthly irregular crossing data.
The number of people crossing the border irregularly had been declining since the last months of Biden's administration. The Democratic administration attributed this reduction in irregular migration to Mexico's actions to curb and disrupt routes to the U.S. border.
