As border crossings plummeted in January, the White House hopes to get more funding to carry of President Donald Trump’s biggest campaign promises.
According to newly released CBP data there were 61,465 apprehensions along the southwest border in January, down from 96,035 in December.
President Trump’s ‘border czar’ highlighted the success at the border and the administration's “more than double the arrest of criminal gang members” in an interview with Scripps News, but said they need more funding to continue the effort.
“We're doing great work with the money we have, through efficient means and having the whole of government, but I'll be clear, we need money from Congress,” he said. “The more money we have, the more successful we'll be, the more detention beds we can buy, the more air flights we can buy, the more resources we can bring on to the teams. We got hard boards, relationships. Got hard ICE agents. So Congress needs to come through us.”
The decline at the southern border of migrant crossings began last year, after Mexico intensified efforts to stop migration through the country in December 2023 — and was followed last summer by President Joe Biden's June executive order which severely curtailed the ability for crossers to seek asylum.
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Shortly after his inauguration, President Trump signed several executive orders himself including one that declared a national emergency at the border and deployed active-duty military and national guardsmen to assist CBP.
The Senate-proposed funding package would include roughly $175 billion for border security, including funding mass deportation operations and border-wall construction.
The increase comes at a time that many federal agencies, and the White House, are highlighting efforts to save the government (and taxpayers) money.
But the funding also comes as the administration has begun housing migrants at the military instillation Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. A 2019 NY Times analysis found it was the world’s most expensive detention facility, costing roughly $13 million per detainee per year.
When asked about that cost for the population, Homan said he hadn’t seen the analysis but highlighted that “We've had a migrant processing center there for decades, and we are merely expanding it.”
“These are the worst of the worst that other countries will not accept. We can house them there where they need to be,” he stated.
When pressed on reports that many detainees have no record except crossing illegally he pushed back.
“There’s nothing in the Immigration Nationality Act that said you’ve gotta commit another crime on top of illegal entry. Illegal entry in the country is a crime. There's nothing in the INA that says you've got to commit yet another crime to be removed from United States if you enter the country illegally,” he said. “It's not okay. I don't lie on my taxes. It's not okay. I don't go 100 miles an hour down the freeway. It's not okay. It's not okay to enter this country. Lately, it's not it's not okay to be here earlier. It's in violation of law.”
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking access for these migrants, expressing concerns over their access to counsel and detention conditions. The border czar stated that all detention standards and regulations are being followed.
However, one issue that continues to hamstring enforcement actions is the fact that ICE warrants are administrative in action — and homeowners are not required to open their doors for arrests.
Homan says they are working on ways around this process.
“We're working on some things, and people can hide all they want, but we're going to do some things. Next couple weeks, you'll be announced, and you'll see what see what we're going to do.”
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
