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The number of illegal crossings and migrant encounters at the southern border has already dropped dramatically under President Donald Trump.
In the last 19 days of the Biden administration, border patrol agents averaged 2,087 daily encounters at the border. Under President Trump, encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border have dropped by a whopping 92.9%.
In the Texas Rio Grande Valley Sector, Border Patrol said daily migrant apprehensions during the weekend before the inauguration fell to 211 compared to 1,154 over the same period one week before.
In the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector, once one of the busiest regions for illegal border crossings in Texas, migrant apprehensions have dropped by nearly 40%. Apprehension numbers went from from 229 to 82 there during the post-inauguration week.
Over in Terrell County, Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland said the difference between the last few weeks and the previous four years at the border has been night and day.
"It's between a complete 180," he said. "I don't remember a day in my 26-year career as a Border Patrol agent that we had that few apprehensions."
Cleveland added that Terrell County is dealing more with people who want to enter the country illegally, not those turning themselves in.
Also, with the significant drop in border apprehensions recently, Border Patrol agents can now focus more on finding new points of entry that are being used by people trying to enter the United States illegally. They have transitioned from processing and releasing migrants into the U.S. to arresting and removing them upon entry.
"As we continue to fortify the border, add technology, add the infrastructure, we're going to see the cartels get more brazen," Cleveland said.
Cleveland said President Trump so far has followed through on his promise of securing the border and getting criminal illegal aliens out of the country. Action on Trump's plans started quickly once he took office, which have included more Border Patrol agents and also the Department of Defense working at the border.
"We've seen the policies implemented, we'll see the fence start to get built and more manpower on the line," said Cleveland.
Earlier this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported its largest single day of migrant apprehensions so far under President Trump's mass deportation plans. Nearly 1,000 migrants were apprehended across multiple states.
Around 50 migrants suspected of being in the country illegally were arrested in the Denver Metro area during one immigration raid. Some of them are believed to be associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Sheriff Cleveland does anticipate there will be an increase in violence on border agents and DoD personnel at the U.S.-Mexico border coming from cartels and gang members if pathways for them to enter the country illegally are shut down.