(NewsNation) — Texas Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told NewsNation that apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border are among the lowest he has seen during his career in law enforcement. Cleveland credits President Donald Trump’s border actions as the reason for the decline.
Arrests for illegal crossings have fallen dramatically from an all-time monthly high of 250,000 in December 2023, perhaps most strikingly in the Rio Grande Valley, the epicenter for migrant arrivals from 2013 to 2022.
“We haven’t seen apprehensions this low,” Cleveland said. “There’s been a few days below 200 now. There’s even been a day I was told that northern border apprehensions were higher than southern border apprehensions.”
Cleveland applauded Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for the drop in apprehensions.
“What we’ve seen Secretary Noem do — she’s fighting for the troops on the ground, whether it’s (local law enforcement), Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection officers as well as ICE agents.”
In February, Homeland Security launched a multimillion-dollar video ad campaign in the U.S. and internationally that features Noem warning people to leave or not to come.
“If you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return,” she said in the video.