What's the alternative?
What's the alternative?

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Read the case for

Issue 1 of 6 · Illegal immigration

End catch-and-release at the border.

Border Patrol recorded 7.4 million apprehensions on the southwest border from fiscal 2021 through 2024. Many of those arrested were released into the United States to await immigration hearings, sometimes years away. Detention capacity, legal requirements and administration policy determined who stayed in custody and who was released.

Border Patrol parole releases fell to zero

Southwest border apprehensions and Border Patrol parole releases, June 2024 and June 2025.

June 2024

Apprehended83,532
Released on parole27,766

33.2% releases relative to apprehensions

June 2025

Apprehended6,072
Released on parole0

0.0% releases relative to apprehensions

Source: House Homeland Security Committee majority, July 18, 2025, reporting CBP data. The release measure is Border Patrol parole releases into the interior; it does not count all immigration admissions, undetected crossings, or releases by other agencies. The percentages compare monthly totals and do not track the outcomes of the same individuals.1

Reduction in Southwest Border Apprehensions

Annual apprehensions peaked at 2.21 million in Fiscal Year 2022, then fell below 238,000 in Fiscal Year 2025, the lowest level since 1970.

2.21M
86K est.
’00’05’10’15’20’25’26
RecordedProjected

Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry, the standard proxy for attempted illegal entry and an undercount by however many evade detection. Fiscal Year 2026 is projected from nine months of actuals. Fiscal Year 2025 begins in October 2024; the administration changed four months into it. Sources: CBP, DHS, House Committee on Homeland Security.

When the change occurred

Apprehensions fell from 29,105 in January 2025 to 8,350 in February, the first full month under the new enforcement orders.

Jan 20, 2025President Trump takes office
Oct ’24Dec ’24Feb ’25Apr ’25Jun ’25Aug ’25Oct ’25Dec ’25

Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry, southwest border. The twelve months to September 2025 sum to 237,538, the fiscal year total; October through December 2025 sum to 21,815, the lowest first quarter on record. Sources: CBP, DHS, Pew Research Center.

Arrests and releases

In June 2024, Border Patrol recorded 83,532 southwest border apprehensions and 27,766 parole releases into the interior. In June 2025, it recorded 6,072 apprehensions and no parole releases. Monthly totals do not show what happened to each person arrested.

Key figures

Apprehensions, southwest border, FY2021 through FY2024
7.4MApprehensions, southwest border, FY2021 through FY20243
The same count in FY2025, lowest since 1970
237,565The same count in FY2025, lowest since 19702
Consecutive months with zero releases into the country
14Consecutive months with zero releases into the country7
People offered a path to citizenship by the Democrats' own 2021 bill
11MPeople offered a path to citizenship by the Democrats' own 2021 bill52

Party positions

Republicans

  • Detain rather than release.
  • Use expedited removal, Remain in Mexico and third-country agreements.
  • Cap parole in statute.
  • Reject legalization for people already here.

Democrats

  • Expand admission and legalization.
  • Offer an eight-year citizenship path to roughly 11 million people already here.
  • Continue parole and release pending distant hearings.
  • Reduce the scope of ICE enforcement.
Our position

Congress should fund detention and lawful removal, and limit parole so that release does not become routine.

Sources

  1. 1June 2024 versus June 2025: Border Patrol apprehensions and parole releasesU.S. House Committee on Homeland Security (majority), reporting CBP data
  2. 2Lowest fiscal year for Border Patrol apprehensions since 1970 (Fiscal Year 2025: 237,565)U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  3. 3FY25 southwest border apprehensions hit lowest level in half a centuryU.S. House Committee on Homeland Security
  4. 4Border Patrol southwest border sector apprehensions, FY1960–FY2020 (historical series)U.S. Customs and Border Protection (compiled)
  5. 5Lowest first quarter of any fiscal year on record: 21,815 Border Patrol apprehensions, Oct–Dec 2025U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  6. 6June 2026: 6,072 southwest Border Patrol apprehensions, the lowest month ever recordedCenter for Immigration Studies (analysis of CBP data)
  7. 7Fourteen consecutive months of zero releases at the southwest borderU.S. Customs and Border Protection
  8. 8Effects of the immigration surge on the federal budget and the economy (8.7M above trend, 2021–2026)Congressional Budget Office
  9. 9How the U.S. legal immigration system works: roughly two-thirds of green cards are family-basedMigration Policy Institute
  10. 10DV-2026 annual limit: approximately 52,000 visas after statutory adjustmentsU.S. Department of State
  11. 11Employment of migrants in the European Union: an 11-point employment gap for the non-EU bornCReAM / RFBerlin
  12. 12Migrant integration statistics: labour market indicatorsEurostat
  13. 13Six Country Immigrant Integration Comparative Survey: 65% of European Muslims surveyed said religious rules matter more than the law of the country they live inRuud Koopmans, WZB Berlin Social Science Center (2013)
  14. 14Criticism of the WZB fundamentalism study's framing and methodsMiddle East Forum / Jan Jaap de Ruiter, Tilburg University
  15. 15The World's Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society; 38,000+ face-to-face interviews across 39 countries, 2008–2012Pew Research Center
  16. 16Oversight hearing on unaccompanied alien children HHS could not reach after sponsor releaseU.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  17. 17NYC asylum-seeker costs: updated city projectionsOffice of the Mayor, New York City
  18. 18NYT/Ipsos poll, January 2025: 79% say transgender athletes should not compete in women's sports, including 67% of DemocratsNew York Times / Ipsos
  19. 19Two-thirds prefer birth-sex eligibility in athletics; 62% in 2021 and 69% in 2023 and 2025Gallup
  20. 20West Virginia v. B.P.J.: states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females (June 2026)Supreme Court of the United States
  21. 21Gender and school sports: federal action and legal challenges to state lawsCongressional Research Service
  22. 22The Biological Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance: ACSM consensus statementAmerican College of Sports Medicine / PubMed
  23. 23Body composition and physical fitness in transgender versus cisgender individuals: systematic review and meta-analysisBritish Journal of Sports Medicine
  24. 24Executive Order 14201: Keeping Men Out of Women’s SportsThe White House
  25. 25Changes to CDC vaccine recommendations in 2025 and 2026Congressional Research Service
  26. 26The 2026 childhood immunization scheduleCongressional Research Service
  27. 27AAP's 2026 immunization schedule keeps routine recommendations intact after overhaul of federal scheduleAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
  28. 28California SB 277 (2015): eliminates personal-belief exemptions to school immunization requirementsCalifornia Legislative Information
  29. 29New York repeals the religious exemption to school vaccination requirements, June 2019NPR
  30. 30National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: about $5.4 billion paid across 12,019 compensated petitions since 1988Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  31. 31UK childhood vaccination coverage: MMR1 at 87.8%, second dose at 85%, every programme below the WHO 95% targetUK Health Security Agency (COVER programme)
  32. 32Child vaccination rates by country: Japan above 97% on DTP with no school mandateOECD
  33. 33State school-vaccine requirements and exemptions, 2026: five states permit medical exemptions onlyKFF
  34. 34State non-medical exemptions from school immunization requirements, updated September 1, 2026National Conference of State Legislatures
  35. 35State vaccine requirements for children, 2026KFF State Health Facts
  36. 36How countries without school vaccination requirements, including the UK, Japan, Sweden, Denmark and Canada, maintain high ratesPolitiFact
  37. 37New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen (2022), decided 6-3Supreme Court of the United States
  38. 38District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) decided 5-4; Bruen (2022) decided 6-3: the individual-right holding and its marginsCongressional Research Service
  39. 39Supreme Court nominations and confirmation votes: Gorsuch 54–45, Kavanaugh 50–48, Barrett 52–48United States Senate
  40. 40Garland v. Cargill (2024): ATF exceeded its statutory authority when it classified bump stocks as machinegunsSupreme Court of the United States
  41. 41Bondi v. VanDerStok (2025): federal law covers at least some weapon-parts kits and unfinished frames or receiversSupreme Court of the United States
  42. 42Executive Order 14206: Protecting Second Amendment RightsThe White House
  43. 43ATF ended the Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy and replaced it with a new administrative-action policyBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
  44. 44DOJ and ATF announce 34 proposed and final regulatory actions following the Second Amendment reviewBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
  45. 45DOJ settles forced-reset-trigger litigation after CargillU.S. Department of Justice
  46. 46Australia's 1996 National Firearms Agreement: 659,940 prohibited firearms bought back and destroyed as of August 2001RAND Corporation
  47. 47New Zealand firearms buy-back, 2019: about 56,000 firearms collected in six monthsNew Zealand Police
  48. 48The 1994 federal assault weapons ban carried a ten-year sunset and expired September 13, 2004ABC News
  49. 49H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, passed the House 216-208 on April 22, 2021U.S. House of Representatives (reported)
  50. 50National Popular Vote Interstate Compact: 222 electoral votes across 18 states and DC, 48 short of the 270 needed to activateNational Popular Vote / Ballotpedia
  51. 51Texas v. White (1869): the Constitution creates an indestructible Union of indestructible StatesSupreme Court of the United States
  52. 52The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021: an eight-year path to citizenship for roughly 11 million people already in the countryCenter for Migration Studies of New York
  53. 53How ICE became a lightning rod: opposition after the 2016 election, #AbolishICE from 2017, a mainstream Democratic position by the 2018 midtermsMigration Policy Institute
  54. 54Americans' support for immigration down, still strong (2026)Gallup
  55. 55Sharply more Americans want to curb immigration to U.S. (55%, 2024)Gallup
  56. 56Assault weapons: state bans by jurisdiction and year of enactmentGiffords Law Center
  57. 57Migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border at their lowest level in more than 50 years (monthly series)Pew Research Center
  58. 58US unauthorized immigrant population reached a record 14 million in 2023, up 3.5 million in two yearsPew Research Center
  59. 59Unauthorized immigrant population at a new peak of 15.8 million as of mid-2024Migration Policy Institute
  60. 60An Update to the Demographic Outlook, 2025 to 2055Congressional Budget Office
  61. 61The Demographic Outlook, 2026 to 2056: revised net-immigration projectionsCongressional Budget Office
  62. 62Permanent Legal Immigration to the United States: Policy OverviewCongressional Research Service
  63. 63Legal immigration from majority-Muslim nations was cut 96% since 2024Cato Institute analysis of State Department data
  64. 64Country-specific full and partial entry restrictions effective January 1, 2026The White House
  65. 65Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, extended through September 21, 2027The White House
  66. 66Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers, FY2024U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
  67. 67Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026The White House / Federal Register
  68. 68Diversity Visa issuance paused; interviews may continue but no visas are being issuedU.S. Department of State
  69. 69First Look: reported U.S. violent-crime trends, May 2025–April 2026Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
  70. 70Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2025: murder rate fell to 4.1 per 100,000Federal Bureau of Investigation
  71. 71Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2024: long-term murder-rate seriesFederal Bureau of Investigation
  72. 72Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Mid-Year 2026 UpdateCouncil on Criminal Justice
  73. 73Department of Justice FY2026 Model Cities Initiative: results of the Memphis and Washington federal surgesU.S. Department of Justice
  74. 74Nationwide decline in vehicle thefts continues through first half of 2025National Insurance Crime Bureau
  75. 75Operation Take Back America memorandumU.S. Department of Justice