(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- One of President Donald Trump’s biggest pitches during his 2016 campaign was securing the border with Mexico. He promised to end the Obama-era policies that made it easier for people to cross the border and then remain illegally in the United States, and it caused chaos among the Democratic Party.
Ever since Trump was elected, the Democrats did everything they could to stop him from getting the wall and to argue, somehow, that a wall was a bad idea. Democrats went as far as advocating for free healthcare for all illegal aliens during the 2019/20 primary debates, showing just how far they were willing to go to oppose anything Trump says.
And, despite the fact the Democrats repeatedly stood in the president’s way and blocked funding for the wall, Trump went ahead with it anyway. Here are three ways that President Donald Trump secured the border in his first term in office.
- He Built the Wall
After Democrats repeatedly refused to sign off on a budget in Congress that included the necessary funds to build a wall, President Trump successfully secured the funding from the defense budget and went ahead with building the wall anyway.
The wall, which was eventually made out of steel bars rather than concrete (owing to border patrol agents informing the president that they must be able to see through it), extended hundreds of miles by the middle of 2020, with450 miles of new border wall expected by the end of the year.
That’s a lot of wall.
- New Deals with South American Nations
President Donald Trump did more than just build a wall, though. He negotiated new deals with Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to ensure that they are doing everything they can to stem the tide of illegal immigrants into the United States.
Mexico agreed to improve their border security and the Unity States set about working with the country, and other South American countries, to destroy and dismantle human smuggling networks. These illegal organizations profit from human tragedy and fuelled much of the border crossings.
President Trump also negotiated Migrant Protection Protocols that require migrants to wait in Mexico for their appearance before a judge relating to their immigration status, ensuring people do not disappear into the United States never to be seen again.
- Tackling Drug Cartels
Also as part of his efforts to curtail illegal border crossings, President Trump cracked down on the drug trade and cartels. Under new rules put in place by the Trump admin, Customs and Border Protection agents were empowered to seize more drugs than ever and stop more crossings than ever.
In 2019 alone, CBP seized over 163,000 pounds of heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine at the southern border.
The United States Coast Guard seized over 458,000 pounds of cocaine and referred almost 400 suspected drug smugglers to the courts for prosecution.
Not a bad record for three and a half years, right?
