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Fact Sheets

President Donald J. Trump’s Border Security Victory

National Security & Defense

Issued on:

SECURING OUR BORDER: President Donald J. Trump is following through on his promise to secure the border with legislation and Executive action.

  • President Trump was elected partly on his promise to secure the Southern Border with a barrier and, since his first day in office, he has been following through on that promise.
  • As the President has said, sections of the border wall are already being built, and legislation and Executive actions are building on that progress.
  • Executive action being taken by the President makes available additional funding to secure our border that is essential to our national security.

LEGISLATIVE WINS: President Trump secured a number of significant legislative victories in the Homeland Security appropriations bill that further his effort to secure the Southern Border and protect our country.

  • The funding bill contains robust resources and additional provisions to secure the border and strengthen immigration enforcement.
  • The bill provides $1.375 billion for approximately 55 miles of border barrier in highly dangerous and drug smuggling areas in the Rio Grande Valley, where it is desperately needed.
    • More than 40 percent of all border apprehensions occurred in the Rio Grande Valley sector in fiscal year (FY) 2018.
    • The Rio Grande Valley was the border sector with the most known deaths of illegal border crossers in FY 2018.
  • $415 million will go toward addressing the humanitarian crisis at the border by providing medical care, transportation, processing centers, and consumables.
  • President Trump successfully rejected efforts by some to undercut Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ability to uphold our laws and detain illegal aliens, including criminals.
    • ICE funding supports nearly 5,000 additional beds to detain illegal aliens and keep criminals off our streets.
  • Customs and Border Protection will receive funding for 600 additional officers.
  • This bill will help keep deadly drugs out of our communities by increasing drug detection at ports of entry, including opioid detection staffing, labs, and equipment.

A PROMISE TO ACT: President Trump is taking Executive action to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at our Southern Border.  

  • President Trump is using his legal authority to take Executive action to secure additional resources, just as he promised.  In part, he is declaring a national emergency that makes available additional troops and funding for military construction.
  • Including funding in Homeland Security appropriations, the Administration has so far identified up to $8.1 billion that will be available to build the border wall once a national emergency is declared and additional funds have been reprogrammed, including:
    • About $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund
    • Up to $2.5 billion under the Department of Defense funds transferred for Support for Counterdrug Activities (Title 10 United States Code, section 284)
    • Up to $3.6 billion reallocated from Department of Defense military construction projects under the President’s declaration of a national emergency (Title 10 United States Code, section 2808)
  • These funding sources will be used sequentially and as needed.
  • The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the Army Corps of Engineers are working to create a prioritized list of segments and a work plan for the remainder of FY 2019 and beyond.
    • New projects could include: new levee wall, new and replacement primary pedestrian barrier, new vehicle-to-pedestrian barrier, and new secondary barrier.

NATIONAL EMERGENCY ON OUR BORDER: The President is using his clear authority to declare a national emergency as allowed under the National Emergencies Act.

  • Since 1976, presidents have declared nearly 60 national emergencies.
    • Most of the previously declared national emergencies have been continually renewed and are still in effect, after being continually renewed.
  • Multiple Governors have declared states of emergency along the border in the past.
    • Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who became President Obama’s DHS Secretary, declared a state of emergency along the border in 2005.
    • Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also declared a state of emergency at the border in 2005.
  • Former President George W. Bush and former President Obama both directed the use of the military to assist DHS in securing and managing the Southern Border.
  • Former President Bush declared a national emergency in 2001, which invoked reprogramming authority granted by Title 10 United States Code, section 2808, and both he and former President Obama used that authority a total of 18 times to fund projects between 2001 and 2014.

ADDRESSING THE CRISIS AT HAND: President Trump is taking the necessary steps to address the crisis at our Southern Border and stop crime and drugs from flooding into our Nation.

  • Cartels, traffickers, and gangs, like the vile MS-13 gang, have taken advantage of our weak borders for their own gain.
  • Immigration officers have made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens in the last two fiscal years.
    • This includes aliens charged or convicted of approximately 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings.
  • Tons of deadly drugs have flooded across the border and into our communities, taking countless American lives.
    • Methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl all flow across our Southern Border and destroy our communities.
    • More than 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2017 alone.
  • Human traffickers exploit our borders to traffic young girls and women into our country and sell them into prostitution and slavery.
  • Massive caravans of migrants view our unsecure border as a way to gain illegal entry into our country and take advantage of our nonsensical immigration loopholes.