2025 Year in Review, DHS Edition

Check out this press release from DHS about their "historic year." It's looong so here are some highlights:

In President Trump’s first year back in office, more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations.   ...

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion at DHS ...

Countless lives have been saved, communities have been strengthened, and the American people have been put first again.  ..

The press release has its own long bullet-pointed list of achievements. Here are a few:

• Border crossings are down 93% year-over-year.   
• Illegal alien apprehensions at the southwest border are down to an average of 245 per day.
• From May to November, seven consecutive months, the United States Border Patrol (USBP) released ZERO illegal aliens into the country.
• Under the Trump administration, there have been 73,329 total apprehensions along the southwest border, which is 53% less than the monthly average of 155,485 during the Biden administration.    
• USBP nationwide apprehensions have averaged under 10,000 per month since President Trump took office – a level of sustained deterrence unmatched in modern border history.
• Fiscal Year 2026 has seen the lowest start to a fiscal year ever - 60,940 total encounters nationwide in October and November – lower than any prior fiscal year to date.   
• DHS secured more than 1,255 signed agreements with state and local partnerships under Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g). [bold in original]
• ICE is on target to hire 10,000 new officers by the end of 2025. [bold in original]
• USCIS has begun recruiting new “Homeland Defenders,” who will better support the agency’s mission and bolster efforts to combat fraud and other threats.  [bold in original]
• Under President Trump, DHS and Department of Health and Human Services have located more than 129,143 unaccompanied children that the Biden Administration lost.  
• USCIS found evidence of fraud, non-compliance with immigration law, or public safety or national security concerns in more than 500 of cases.
• Since January 20, USCIS has referred more than 14,400 aliens to ICE for public safety, national security, and fraud concerns, including 182 aliens who were confirmed or suspected to be national security risks.
• Since January 20, USCIS officers have issued approximately 196,600 NTAs to place aliens in removal proceedings.
• FDNS has completed investigations on more than 19,300 fraud cases and identified fraud in 65% of them.
• In a pivotal move to protect American workers, USCIS changed regulation to ensure that aliens will no longer receive an automatic extension of their employment authorization when seeking renewal in certain employment authorization categories.  [bold in original]