The new US Border Patrol chief said the number of illegal migrants stopped trying to cross the besieged southern border has dropped an astonishing 90% since January 21 — a day after President Trump’s inauguration.
Michael Banks, a longtime former border agent himself, touted the plunge in illegal crossings in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” Thursday, adding that prosecutions of criminal migrants the agency has apprehended have also jumped 52%.
“US Border Patrol knows how to get the job done, we know how to secure the border. All we needed was a president that was going to empower us — a strong leader like President Trump — and a secretary like Secretary Noem that knows exactly what we need to do to secure the border,” he said.
Banks did not provide the exact figures on illegal border crossings or clarify what time period he was comparing the drop to, however, figures released Thursday by the Texas Department of Public Safety show that crossings into the Lone Star state have slowed to a relative trickle.
On Feb. 5, just 396 illegal migrants were encountered across the once-bustling El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Del Rio and Big Bend sections of the southwest border.
Del Rio alone was seeing thousands of illegal crossings per day under the Biden administration, including a spike in September, 2021, when more than 14,000 Haitian migrants appeared at the border over a matter of days.
Meanwhile, figures obtained by The Post show that the number of migrants in US Customs and Border Patrol custody has plummeted by more than 500% since the summer.
The agency currently has approximately 1,500 illegal immigrants in its custody — a drop in the bucket compared to June when over 10,000 migrants were locked up.
The staggering decline in the number of migrants trying to sneak into the US is a direct result of the Trump administration’s commitment to ramped-up enforcement, the data shows – and those on the frontline agree.
“No other President has ever enforced our nation’s borders like President Trump,” one Border Patrol agent The Post.
“The law is finally being enforced once again,” another agent said.
“Catch and release is over and smugglers are being forced to figure out new ways to get people in,” they added.
President Trump has also launched major deportation raids in progressive sanctuary cities – including the Big Apple – since he re-took the White House.
The offensive cuffed more than 7,200 illegal migrants nationwide in just the first nine days of his crackdown, according to officials.
“I think because of the deportations flights. It only takes a few to get back to know they won’t get let go anymore,” another Border Patrol agent said.
“They knew the law wasn’t being enforced. Now, they know this administration wasn’t just talking. There are consequences.”
In New York City – which became ground zero for the national crisis under the Biden administration – the number of migrants arriving has drastically slowed.
Last week, approximately 200 migrants entered the Big Apple’s shelter system, compared to the 600 new migrants who arrived in the week of the presidential election in November, according to city data.
There are now 46,000 migrants living in the taxpayer-funded Big Apple shelters as of last week – a decrease of 12,000 compared to the election week in November.
Banks, Texas’ former border czar, also dispelled misinformation Thursday that the feds were cruelly targeting “abuelas” (grandmothers) and families instead of hardened criminals.
“It’s just nonsense. It’s rhetoric that we’re targeting … school buses and children. It’s absurd. And if you want to talk about abuelas, my abuela is a naturalized citizen from Mexico,” he said.
“We’re certainly not targeting abuelas, we’re not targeting people who are in this country legally and don’t have the authority to go after someone who’s in this country legally,” he continued.
“We’re targeting criminals, and those who have broken the law by entering the country illegally.”
