Republicans kept their promise: America’s border is secure again

For four years under the Biden administration, Americans watched our southern border collapse. Record numbers of illegal crossings poured into the country. Cartels flourished. Fentanyl flooded our communities. Criminal illegal immigrants, including members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang, embedded themselves in my home state of Colorado and across the United States.

The previous administration’s open-border policies were a choice. That chaos ended when President Trump returned to office and Republicans in Congress kept the promise we made to the American people.

At the start of the 119th Congress, I voted for the Laken Riley Act , which requires the detention of illegal immigrants charged with theft, burglary or similar crimes. Named after the young woman murdered by an illegal immigrant who should never have been free to walk our streets, this law is a straightforward step to protect American communities from preventable violence.

Since January 2025, the results have been dramatic and undeniable. Daily encounters at the southwest border have plummeted by roughly 95 percent , falling from more than 5,000 per day under the Biden administration to about 250. For months at a time — now more than a year straight — zero illegal immigrants have been released into the U.S. Apprehensions are at historic lows, including the lowest fiscal-year Border Patrol total since 1970 . Deterrence is working again because the policies changed.

A secure border also protects American health care. Cartel fentanyl, emergency-room costs, and benefit fraud drain hospitals and taxpayers. Stopping that at the border keeps care available for veterans, seniors, and families who play by the rules. I authored the Fentanyl is a WMD Act to treat cartel poison as a mass-casualty threat; I passed a bipartisan House amendment requiring the Department of Homeland Security to report how many illegal aliens are deported for assaulting law enforcement; and I introduced legislation to stop federal health insurance dollars from covering people here illegally .

When fentanyl, fraud, and uncompensated emergency care flood rural hospitals, nurses and families on the Eastern Plains pay the price. A secure border stops that poison before it reaches our neighborhoods. It ends the deadly trek that cartels sell to migrants, and it removes criminals who never should have been here.

That is not a slogan. It is the difference between families whose loved ones come home at night and those who never do.

Securing the border does more than keep Americans safer. It also slashes the fraud and waste that exploded when millions of illegal immigrants were funneled into public systems. When the border is closed and interior enforcement is real, taxpayer dollars stop being siphoned off by illegal claims, emergency costs and benefit abuse. That money can go where it belongs: to American citizens who actually need it — veterans, seniors, working families, schools, and health care for people who play by the rules.

Republicans did what they promised: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act , set aside $46.5 billion for border barriers and technology . Steel is going in the ground for primary and secondary walls, Rio Grande water barriers, sensors, and roads are going up from California to Texas. Dozens of miles are finished; hundreds more are under construction.

When Democrats once again shut down the government and attempted to defund Customs and Border Protection and ICE — and reopen the border — I voted for the Secure America Act . This legislation provides multi-year mandatory funding for Border Patrol and ICE through the end of Trump’s term, delivering roughly $70 billion to hire, train, equip, and retain the agents and officers who enforce our laws. It strengthens interior enforcement, expands detention capacity, supports removals, and ensures these critical agencies are fully funded without being held hostage by the defund the police crowd during annual appropriations deliberations.

I support expansion of the 287(g) program , which lets federal and local police identify and remove criminal illegal immigrants. More cooperation is needed to protect communities from violent offenders and drug traffickers who entered under the previous administration’s policies.

Some will never admit it, but a secure border works. Crime is down, fewer gang members are on the streets, and states like Colorado can put more money into education and health care for American citizens instead of cleaning up open-border chaos. Ignore the socialist propaganda and paid protests. More than a year of zero releases proves we are safer. Voters demanded an end to catch-and-release and the removal of criminal aliens. Republicans delivered. America is safer, and American tax dollars are better protected.

Now Congress must finish the work by codifying Trump’s executive orders into statute. Future administrations should not be able to flip a switch and reopen the border. I will continue fighting to ensure these gains are permanent.

Lauren Boebert represents Colorado’s 4th District in Congress and serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.