# White House Highlights Border Security Wins While Condemning Biden-Era Failures

The Trump Administration released a comprehensive report this week detailing what it calls "the largest reduction in the illegal alien population in modern history," while simultaneously highlighting the catastrophic failures of Biden-era immigration policies that left America vulnerable to criminals and national security threats.

According to a White House statement released October 20, the illegal alien population has been reduced by at least 2.3 million people, with more than three million migrants leaving the country during President Trump's second term. The administration reports that illegal southern border crossings were cut by 95% from Biden-era levels in fiscal year 2026, recording the lowest number of illegal border crossings in American history.

The dramatic turnaround comes as new evidence emerges of the Biden Administration's stunning negligence on immigration enforcement. A Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General report covering fiscal years 2021 through 2024 revealed that ICE received 3,145,375 leads about possible alien overstays under Biden, with 104,049 categorized as potential national security and public safety concerns. Yet remarkably, only 496 investigations were launched into potential national security threats, resulting in the arrest of just eight aliens.

"The degree of the Biden Administration's dereliction of duty, which needlessly put American lives at risk, is staggering and enraging," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "As if the wide-open borders weren't enough, a new OIG report reveals that the Biden-era ICE essentially ignored over 100,000 potential threats to Americans."

The consequences of that negligence are documented in chilling detail. The DHS report highlighted multiple cases of visa overstays who went on to commit violent crimes in the United States, including Shaqiuel Sheldon Williams, who entered legally from Jamaica in December 2023 but overstayed his authorization and was arrested in Florida in August 2026 on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after allegedly stabbing two people at a Burger King.

In stark contrast, the Trump Administration reports historic enforcement achievements. Nearly 1.2 million illegal aliens have been deported or removed, and more than 12,100 gang members have been arrested, including more than 1,500 Tren de Aragua affiliates and nearly 2,000 MS-13 affiliates. More than 2,200 known or suspected terrorists have been arrested, with over 2,000 of them removed from the country.

The administration has also delivered crushing blows to the fentanyl crisis that exploded under Biden. Fentanyl trafficking at the southern border collapsed by 56%, and fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22% in a single year. Drug overdoses overall have fallen by more than 40% from the Biden-era peak. Nearly one million pounds of narcotics were seized through Customs and Border Protection in fiscal year 2026, 63% above the prior four-year average.

Perhaps most remarkably, the United States recorded negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years, and the administration ended catch-and-release, delivering 17 straight months of zero releases at the border. The immigration court backlog has been reduced from more than 4.18 million cases to under 3.09 million—the sharpest decrease in the Executive Office for Immigration Review's history.

The White House is highlighting these achievements as President Trump prepares for a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, where immigration enforcement will be a central theme. The administration points to the transformation as vindication of Trump's America First approach to border security and a damning indictment of Biden's open-border policies that left the nation exposed to criminals, traffickers, and potential terrorists.