‘Completely’ securing the border possible under Trump: Border Patrol chief
Border Patrol national chief Mike Banks told the Washington Examiner he expects to achieve full operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border under the Trump administration,aiming to eliminate “gotaways” entirely. Banks said the border is the most secure it has been in his career thanks to strong support from President Trump and homeland Security leadership, and cited a recent day when only 17 peopel evaded arrest versus the hundreds or thousands at the height of the crisis. The administration has used a whole-of-government approach, including Justice Department agents, and arrests peaked at more than 14,000 per day in late 2023. Critics and analysts note that true operational control would require near‑complete domain awareness across vast and varied terrain,something technology can help enable.
Border Patrol chief vows to hit zero gotaways under Trump
EXCLUSIVE — The head of the Border Patrol has vowed to “completely” secure the border for the first time in United States history, anticipating a day in the near future where not a single person who crosses illegally will get away.
Border Patrol’s national chief Mike Banks declared in an interview with the Washington Examiner nearly a year into President Donald Trump’s term that he expects to achieve full operational control of the U.S.-Mexico border, a feat that no leader of the 101-year-old organization has achieved.
“With the level of support we’ve been getting from President Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem], we have the most secure border we’ve ever had. I truly believe, for the first time in my career, that we can absolutely gain operational control. We are so close,” Banks said. “I have no doubt that we’re going to secure this border completely for the first time in American history.”
The Trump administration has taken a whole-of-government approach to bolstering security at the southern border. It has enlisted the Department of War, as have other administrations.
The administration has also sent in the Department of Justice’s agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
On Dec. 18, Banks said, just 17 people who crossed the southern border evaded arrest, a decrease from the hundreds, even “thousands” that he estimated slipped past federal agents at the height of the border crisis in 2022 and 2023.
Border Patrol arrests of illegal immigrants peaked in late 2023 at more than 14,000 per day.
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Selene Rodriguez, campaign director for the Secure and Sovereign Texas campaign at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation think tank, said that because the southern border is so expansive, Border Patrol will need eyes on all of it to claim that it is secure.
“The U.S.-Mexico border, in Texas specifically, is so vast and contains many different types of terrain, to achieve full operational control requires 100% domain awareness,” Rodriguez wrote in a text message Monday. “That would allow us to know who is coming in where, and give us the advantage of intercepting them before they can evade. Achieving 100% domain awareness would be an incredible feat, and the technology exists to help us get it done. “
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