Border crossings plummeted 94% from a year ago, while arrests of illegal immigrants in March nearly matched the total for all of Fiscal Year 2024, according to new federal data.

A Boarder Brief factsheet released by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on Tuesday highlights U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for March that illustrates the drastic turnaround in the first few months of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The data shows apprehensions along the southern border have declined by 95%, from 137,473 in March 2024 to 7,181 last month, while border encounters nationwide are down 88%, from 189,359 to 11,017 over the same time frame.

“It sure is a breath of fresh air to have a president do what he said he would do,” committee chair Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “With Southwest border apprehensions hitting yet another record-low, law and order is at an all-time high.

“Our borders are secure because the Trump administration has ended catch and release and rescinded the unlawful mass-parole programs implemented by the Biden-Harris administration,” he said. “Our communities are safer because the Trump administration is removing violent criminals and dismantling the cartels’ business model. Our federal law enforcement officers are empowered because this president has untied their hands and allowed them to do the jobs they signed up for.”

In the first 50 days of the second Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 32,809 arrests, which included 1,155 criminal gang members and 39 known or suspected terrorists.

“This is roughly equal to all of Fiscal Year 2024 under President Biden,” according to the Committee on Homeland Security.

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The arrests also included 394 members of Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational criminal organization targeted in a federal indictment of 27 members and associates this week on charges of racketeering, narcotics, sex trafficking, robbery and firearms offenses.

“As alleged, Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence, engaged in human trafficking, and spread deadly drugs through our communities,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday. “Today’s indictments and arrests span three states and will devastate TdA’s infrastructure as we work to completely dismantle and purge this organization from our country.”

Other promising trends outlined in the Border Brief include a 92% decline in the number of unaccompanied alien children at the southern border in March versus March 2024.

“On March 25, DHS revealed ICE could not locate over 300,000 (unaccompanied alien children) who entered the U.S. since 2019 – many of whom crossed the Southern border under Biden and Harris,” the fact sheet reads.

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The Heritage Foundation’s Lora Ries put that problem into perspective during a committee hearing on March 28.

“HHS was so overwhelmed (it) … turned them over to unvetted sponsors,” she said. “Unfortunately some were subjected to sex trafficking, child labor, and God knows what else, but they need to be found.”

The committee also pointed to remarks from Maryland mother Patty Morin at the White House last week that illustrate the cost of the country’s lax border enforcement under President Joe Biden.

Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was murdered by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal alien gotaway from El Salvador.

“These are the kinds of criminals President Trump wants to remove from our country,” Morin said at a press conference on Thursday. “These are the kinds of criminals we need to remove from our country. We are American citizens, why should we allow … violent criminals who have no conscious at all to murder our mothers, our sisters, our daughters?

“I don’t understand why there’s even any kind of problem with this,” she said.

While Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of Morin’s murder last week, the number of known gotaways has plunged by more than 90% since Trump took office, going from an average of about 1,800 per day in 2023 to 132 per day in February, Fox News reports.

In addition to data detailing the impact of stronger border enforcement, the Border Brief also highlights legislation introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to require DHS to publish the number of special interest aliens – those who pose a potential national security risk – who cross the U.S. border.

House Homeland Security Committee Chair Green noted that bill and others aimed at bolstering Trump’s enhanced boarder enforcement will be critical to continuing the momentum moving forward.

“Under this administration’s leadership, the chaos and destruction of the Biden-Harris administration is a thing of the past––but this victory will be short-lived if frontline law enforcement doesn’t have the tools they need long-term,” Green said. “It is now Congress’ turn to do our duty and codify President Trump’s border security and enforcement agenda. House Republicans must be unified and prepared to do so. There is no time to waste when it comes to securing the homeland, and the American people have already waited four long years.”