President Donald Trump promised to secure the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico.
It’s something he made a focal point of his 2024 presidential campaign, and quickly became an issue that resonated with many voters that helped propel him into office.
And so far, Trump’s moves to secure the southern border have worked.
Since taking office in January, the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded encounters dropped by 90% in most sectors compared to the same time period last year.
Deployments of thousands of U.S. military troops to the border, who have assisted CBP agents with everything from reinforcing barriers to surveillance of potential illegal crossers, have been a major factor in the dramatic drop in illegal crossings.
However, one of Trump’s top law enforcement officials has suggested the for all the work being done at the southern border, it could expose the U.S. to another danger.
Essentially, is Trump’s U.S./Mexico border protection working TOO well?
FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers this past Wednesday that U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia have started to target the northern U.S. border with Canada.
Patel told lawmakers in front of the House Intelligence Committee that the “effective resolution” to the crisis at the southern border has caused adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran to shift their resources to targeting the U.S. northern border.
Patel noted that adversaries have not stopped using the southern border altogether.
Patel also noted that the “monumental effort” to secure the border and stop known or suspected terrorists from coming into the country has made moving people and substances, such as fentanyl, illegally more difficult since Trump took office.
According to CBP data, Chinese nationals were among the most likely to attempt illegal crossings, with the number of crossings from citizens of the country rising to over 24,000 in 2023, a more than 5,200% increase from the 450 encounters just a year earlier.
Patel said that between 2022 and 2025, an estimated 178,000 Chinese nationals attempted to cross the southern border.
Patel warned that the new security of the southern border could now open up threats to the north, arguing that U.S. adversaries will use the same tactics they previously used on sectors not receiving as much security attention.