Residents of Starr County, Texas, like Marcus Canales, have described feeling like they are living in a computer-generated virtual world similar to the Hollywood sci-fi movie “The Matrix” during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration. Canales witnessed a historic victory for the Republican party represented by Trump in the predominantly Hispanic county, where the number of illegal immigrants drastically changed after Trump took office. The sight of Border Patrol vehicles speeding by to pick up illegal immigrants waiting by the roadside was no longer common, reflecting the impact of Trump’s policies on immigration enforcement.
During the previous Biden administration, about 11 million illegal immigrants entered the U.S., with the majority crossing the border from the southwest. Trump’s core promise for his reelection campaign was to close the southern border and deport illegal immigrants, which played a crucial role in securing his second presidential term.
Since Trump’s inauguration, the number of arrests of illegal immigrants by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has significantly decreased. The arrest numbers in February and March were less than 30,000 each, compared to nearly 250,000 during the same period in 2024.
On April 28, Tom Homan, the Border Affairs Director for the Trump administration, stated in a White House press briefing that within the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, only 9 illegal immigrants were released into the U.S. In contrast, during Biden’s term from January 20 to April 1 last year, a total of 184,000 illegal immigrants were released into the U.S.
According to a survey by AtlasIntel released in March, Trump had the highest support rate on immigration issues, with 52% of the 2,550 respondents considering his performance as excellent or good. The survey had a margin of error of 2%.
A January 29-30 online poll conducted by “The Epoch Times” showed that over 81% of the 54,144 respondents supported the expulsion of illegal immigrants.
Trump’s comprehensive border security strategy included issuing executive orders, imposing tariffs, deploying military forces, and implementing existing immigration laws, some of which had rarely been used since the founding of the U.S. On his first day in office, Trump signed 10 executive orders related to the border, laying the foundation for deportation operations and targeting illegal immigration, crime, and the opioid crisis.
In his inaugural address, Trump stated, “All illegal entries will immediately stop, and we will begin the process of safely removing those who have entered illegally”. Shortly after taking office, his administration terminated the “CBP One” mobile application, which allowed nearly a million individuals who should have been considered illegal immigrants to schedule appointments with federal border enforcement officers to enter the U.S. The Trump administration renamed the application to “CBP Home”, allowing illegal immigrants to voluntarily depart.
In addition to declaring a national emergency and mobilizing the military to the border, the Trump administration also signed orders to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, end the “catch and release” policy, build a border wall, designate criminal organizations as foreign terrorist groups, terminate refugee resettlement and birthright citizenship, and strengthen immigration checks, although many of these measures faced legal challenges later on.
Trump designated Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations and imposed tariffs to pressure Mexico and Canada to take responsibility for the U.S. fentanyl crisis. China also became a target for tariffs for its involvement in fentanyl smuggling.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid compound 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is one of the deadliest drugs currently circulating. Fentanyl derivatives like carfentanil are often used by drug cartels to enhance the potency of other illegal substances at a low cost, with its strength reaching up to 100 times that of fentanyl, potentially causing death with even tiny amounts.
The designated Mexican drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, United Cartels, La Nueva Familia Michoacana Organization, and Northeast Cartel, along with transnational gangs like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua from Venezuela, were also designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
In February, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on imported goods from Mexico and Canada in response to illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. China faced a 10% tariff for providing precursor chemicals needed for fentanyl production, later raised to 20%.
Since taking effect in April, the Trump administration adjusted tariffs on certain products from Mexico and Canada, prompting both nations to enhance border controls to prevent fentanyl smuggling. The White House stated that the influx of banned substances like fentanyl through illegal distribution networks poses a national emergency and a public health crisis.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fentanyl overdose deaths have become a nationwide crisis, with drug traffickers mainly smuggling the substance through the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico, leading to approximately 75,000 American deaths in 2023.
Homan noted that the decrease in illegal immigration numbers also helped lower crime rates and save lives, stating that 250,000 Americans died from fentanyl, which mainly entered through open borders, highlighting how Trump’s policies are saving lives every day.
Marquita Berry, whose 30-year-old son James Stafford died in 2023 after long-term abuse of painkillers, attributed her son’s death to fentanyl poisoning. She found him in his bedroom in Richburg, South Carolina, having succumbed to the effects of laced pain medication. Since then, Berry has been a staunch supporter of Trump’s efforts to enhance border security and prevent fentanyl from claiming more American lives.
The military’s duties at the border include allowing soldiers and National Guard members to construct barriers and complete the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a major campaign promise since Trump entered politics.
Trump ordered the military to “prioritize the protection of the national border sovereignty and territorial integrity” by blocking the border and combating various forms of invasion, including mass illegal migration, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other criminal activities.
Although Trump’s efforts couldn’t bring her son back, Berry believed that these efforts could potentially save countless future generations of American families. She noted a decrease in reports of fentanyl-related deaths in her community now and expressed a desire to shield her four grandchildren from such substances.
During the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the priority was to deport dangerous illegal immigrants and 1.4 million foreign nationals holding final deportation orders, which posed a daunting task for the federal government.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lacked sufficient manpower to arrest and deport millions of illegal immigrants, highlighting the importance of signing agreements with states to implement Trump’s policies.
To address this issue, Trump signed an order directing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, to maximize the utilization of state law enforcement agencies to assist the federal government in enforcing immigration laws through the so-called “287(g) agreements”.
These agreements empower state law enforcement agencies, like sheriff’s offices, to “perform immigration officer duties, including investigation, arrest, or detention of foreign nationals within the U.S., under the guidance and supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security”.
These agreements encompass three modes:
1. Jail Enforcement Model, used to identify and deal with deportable foreign nationals in prisons;
2. Task Force Model, allowing local law enforcement to exercise limited immigration enforcement authority under the supervision of ICE;
3. Warrant Service Officer Model, enabling ICE to train and certify local law enforcement to execute administrative arrest warrants for foreign nationals in jails.
As per ICE data, all states except 12 had signed at least one 287(g) agreement, with 64 applications still pending approval as of mid-April. Law enforcement departments in red states like Florida and Texas have been at the forefront of this trend.
The Florida Sheriffs Association announced that all 67 county jails in the state signed agreements to collaborate with ICE in immigration enforcement. In Texas, 26 county law enforcement departments out of the 254 counties signed 287(g) agreements.
Expelling illegal immigrants was a top priority for the Trump administration. Since January 20, a total of 139,000 illegal immigrants had been deported, with the President invoking the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the process. This rarely used 1798 law allows the government to detain and deport foreign nationals without a hearing during an “invasion or predatory invasion by any foreign country or government”.
In a declaration invoking the law, Trump stated that “Tren de Aragua” had engaged in such invasion acts under the secret or open instructions of the Venezuelan socialist regime. However, Trump’s deportation actions, including the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, faced numerous legal challenges, with non-profit organizations alleging government overreach and deprivation of due process rights for deportees.
Several deportation cases had advanced to emergency appeals at the Supreme Court. In early April, the Supreme Court allowed the government to continue deportations under the Alien Enemies Act but required the Trump administration to notify deportees before their removal flights.
In another case, the Supreme Court temporarily halted the government from deporting a group of Venezuelan men accused of being part of a criminal gang under the same law. Felix Cano, a veteran and member of the “Red Wave” supporting Trump’s reelection in the border region of Texas, praised Trump’s border policies thus far.
In his town of Weslaco, located about 7 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, Cano noticed a reduction in the number of migrant tents near the international bridge on the Mexican side. He emphasized that Trump had effectively reversed the course of border-related issues through existing laws and executive orders, which he found incredible. Cano supported deporting criminal illegal immigrants back to El Salvador and questioned why Democratic lawmakers and activists were trying to keep them in the U.S.
He highlighted the presence of violent gangs like “Tren de Aragua”, connected with drug and human trafficking, previously occupying hotels in Texas and apartments in Colorado, stating, “We can’t allow such crime to exist here”.
On the other hand, Democrats criticized the Trump administration’s deportation actions as too radical, asserting that illegal immigrants were entitled to due process. They raised concerns about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an MS-13 gang member and undocumented immigrant from Maryland, to El Salvador.
In early court filings, the Trump administration admitted that Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador was a mistake. In 2019, a judge ruled Garcia an MS-13 gang member based on an immigration court decision and ordered his removal, but another judge blocked the government from carrying it out due to potential threats from hostile gangs in El Salvador.
On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled that the government must “assist” Garcia in returning to the U.S. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele later visited the White House and stated that he wouldn’t release Garcia. The U.S. government noted its inability to compel the Salvadoran government to release Garcia.
The case is still pending in court.