Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday took a victory lap as he toured the southern border, hailing a sharp drop in border encounters that he tied directly to the policies of the Trump administration.
Vance, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, toured the border in Eagle Pass, Texas. They met with Texas officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, participated in an aerial tour of the border and observed a stretch of recently built border wall.
In remarks to the press, Vance referenced remarks President Donald Trump made in his speech to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
VANCE HEADS TO SOUTHERN BORDER AS TRUMP TOUTS SHARP DROP IN CROSSINGS: ‘THEY HEARD MY WORDS’
“It turns out we didn’t need new laws. We didn’t need fancy legislation. We just needed a new President of the United States. And thank God, that’s exactly what we have,” Vance said.
The trio also visited a Border Patrol detention facility before participating in a roundtable discussion with local and national participants.
“Border security is national security,” Hegseth told Fox News before the trip. He added, “We’re sending those folks home, and we’re not letting more in. And you’re seeing that right now.”
Vance pointed to numbers saying that crossings had dropped from 1,500 a day to 30 a day, and an 85% reduction in those dying at the border.
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“Every single day that we continue to keep this border safe, that means less migrant crime. That means less fentanyl coming into our communities. That means more safety and security for the people of the United States of America,” he said.
“Our mission is very clear. Our objective is to keep the American people safe,” Gabbard said, highlighting the president’s designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Trump, whose campaign centered on cracking down on illegal immigration, had signed executive orders to declare a national emergency at the border and deploy the military. He also ordered the resumption of border wall construction and the end of Biden parole policies.
The Pentagon quickly deployed troops and opened up Guantánamo Bay to flights of migrants. The Department of Homeland Security has taken limits off of interior enforcement and expanded the use of expedited removal, while the State Department secured additional cooperation with countries to return migrants.
That’s in addition to an interior enforcement campaign that has led to the arrests of thousands of illegal immigrants throughout the country, including in “sanctuary” cities.
In February, there were just 8,326 southern border encounters, down from 189,913 in February 2024. The administration has so far removed more than 55,000 illegal immigrants from the U.S.
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A Border Patrol source told Fox News that there were just 271 total encounters for the entire southern border on Tuesday, and just 14 in the Del Rio Sector where Vance is visiting.
Trump also pointed to a drop in crossings during his address on Tuesday evening.
“Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border and I deployed the U.S. military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country. And what a job they’ve done. As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded, ever,” he said.
“They heard my words, and they chose not to come.”
Fox News’ Brooke Taylor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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