DAVID MARCUS: How many American lives has Trump's border miracle already saved?
Exact numbers on how many deaths, intentional or otherwise, are caused by illegal immigrants in America are hard to come by, but the tragic killings of people like Laken Riley and so many others at the hands of illegals should make us ask, how many lives has President Trump's secure border already saved?
One of life’s small cruelties is that when one acts responsibly and strongly, as Trump has here, they tend not to get credit for the bad things that don’t happen. But we should make an exception for the miracle of the Rio Grande.
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What there can be absolutely no doubt about is that, somewhere this weekend at a cookout or a bowling alley, there are people enjoying their friends and family who would not be here but for Trump’s border actions.
The numbers are simply stunning, almost to the point of Monty Python-level absurdity. In May of 2024, 62,000 illegal migrants were released into the U.S. Last month that number was zero, zilch, nada.
Likewise, back when Grandpa Joe Biden was running the show, there were often over 10,000 encounters a day on the southern border, but last Sunday, there were a total of 95, the lowest number ever recorded over 24 hours.
To put this in perspective, you could put 95 people in two Waffle House restaurants with room at the counter to spare.
It is fair to say that this remarkable closing of the open wound that was flooding our nation with millions of illegal migrants as well as fentanyl and targets of terrorist watchlists, is among the most complete and swiftest handlings of a crisis in American history.
If Kamala Harris was in office today, a million illegals could have come in by now. How many gang members? How many rapists? How many deadly doses of fentanyl?
Let us not forget how vociferously we were informed that what Trump has done, shutting down the border, was absolutely impossible without acts of Congress. In the giant gumball machine of lies told by the Biden administration, this was among the most stale.
It goes back even further than Biden’s incompetence. While Trump had surely tamped down illegal immigration in his first term, before that, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, had all failed to get a handle on the situation.
Part of the problem years ago, and still an issue in Trump’s deportation policies, is that some industries, like farming and hospitality, rely heavily on illegal labor. But given that there are already 10-20 million illegals in America, thanks to Biden, we certainly don’t need any more.
And the ongoing deportations, which polling consistently shows voters approve of, also play a role in securing the southern border. When one sees people being arrested for jumping the turnstile, it makes them less likely to try it themselves.
Deportations turn off the magnet that attracts migrants, and by ending the disastrous catch-and-release policy, Trump has freed our border agents, to actually enforce border security instead of being desk clerks at the Hotel America.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, fentanyl seizures at the southern border are down 50% since November. A huge part of the reason for this is that without the cover of 100,000 illegal migrants a day, smuggling drugs gets much, much harder.
Less fentanyl coming into the country means fewer Americans dying of overdoses, a result that surely everyone should cheer.
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Americans can be forgiven for not quite knowing how to react to such a resounding and total victory as Trump has achieved on the border. We certainly are not used to it, but we would be wise not to take it for granted.
With the border closed, a million people self-deporting and violent criminals being taken off the streets and out of the country, there will be fewer grieving parents with children lost to violence, fewer grieving children with parents lost to illegal driving.
Just six months into his second stint on Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump’s secure border is already making every American, of every party, much, much safer.
In 2020, American voters took Trump’s first-term hard work on the border for granted, and by electing Biden opened the floodgates to millions. This time, let's understand and appreciate how important a secure border is, and make clear that we are never going back.