Border Security Is a Promise Kept
by Sen. John Thune
It’s difficult to overstate how dramatically the situation at the southern border has improved over the past year. In December, there were 10,000 total encounters at the southern border. Compare that to 96,000 encounters the previous December under President Biden, or more than 300,000 in December 2023. After years of crisis, the border is finally secure.
I was recently at the southern border to see for myself the progress that’s been made in just one year under President Trump. What I saw could not be more different from my two visits during the Biden administration. In early 2021, I visited a facility that was already operating at 16 times its allotted capacity soon after President Biden took office. And when I returned in 2023, I heard from Border Patrol agents who had been dealing with a border crisis for two years and were in desperate need of resources and support from the Biden administration – support that never came.
The situation at the southern border today is a complete turnaround from the Biden-era crisis. Border Patrol agents I spoke to on my recent trip told me that the flood of illegal immigrants has slowed to a trickle. Law enforcement officers are being supported in their work and allowed to do the job they were hired to do to protect our border. And the data speaks for itself. Order has been restored, the crisis is behind us, and our country is much safer for it.
I’m grateful to President Trump and his administration for wasting no time securing our border, and I’m proud of the work Republicans have done in Congress to ensure that we sustain that progress in the years to come. Last year, Republicans made a generational investment in border security. We funded completion of the border wall, new technology and surveillance equipment, and expanded detention capacity. We also supported hiring additional Border Patrol agents and expanded partnerships with local law enforcement to enforce immigration law. These resources help law enforcement do its job, keep the border secure, and deter illegal immigration.
During my recent visit, border agents repeatedly emphasized that they are already seeing positive impacts from these investments, particularly with additional personnel and counter-drone technology. Thanks to new technology, Border Patrol can take over or destroy drones operated by cartels at the border, limiting the cartels’ surveillance abilities and capacity to transport dangerous items into our country. And that’s just one example of how Republicans’ landmark legislation is strengthening border security and making America safer.
I believe that we are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws, and those laws need to be enforced. President Trump has restored law and order at America’s borders, and I’m proud that congressional Republicans have provided the resources necessary to sustain these important efforts. A safer America starts at our borders, and Republicans will continue to make border security a priority.
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BANG bangbang bang. BABANG bangbangbang bang.
“why are you using REAL bullets???!”
Just replaying Saturday’s ten-shot event.
All bullets on target. I’d say the training if effective.
Point blank in the back. Classy.
A hit is a hit. FAFO.
Psychophant.
Tough man murdering an unarmed man in the back. You’ve done just fine being a guard at Dachau.
Senator, you are at the southern border lauding all the success that US Border Patrol is having there. Yet, hundreds of border patrol agents are in MN engaging in pepper spraying, rear gassing and yesterday shooting and killing a US citizen engaged in legal demonstrations. What is your response to this? I have yet to hear. Please tell us how what we see is totally opposite from the administration’s public statements.
Does a nation of laws arrest people without due process, drag them off to inhumane prisons, break into homes without warrants and kill American citizens who are exercising their American rite to protest? Does a nation of laws have a “secret police” force who is above the law? Does a nation of laws rewrite history and events so that the government can do no wrong…no matter the truth and evidence to the difference. I don’t think so and 61% of Americans don’t think so either.
Do you have any functioning brain cells left?
Counter to what you may have been told in Ivermectin class, your missing brain cells can’t be replaced by asking another person for their extra working brain cells.
Bless your heart. You try so hard but you can’t hide the fact you are a participation ribbon voter.
You’re as lame as ever lmao dope.
President Trump fixing what Resident Bidum broke.
Thats why the dollar is crashing and precious metals are going through the roof.
On a day when Kristi Noem and the administration were caught fabricating a narrative regarding the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti… Sen. Thune thought it was appropriate to put out THIS press release? The lies are so epic that it is hard to believe that his could happen in America.
Disgusting.
A staffer needs a serious talking to. Tone deaf
The GOP’s cover story is that mayors and governors won’t take a subordinate role with ICE and let them work freely. The deaths are the mayor and governor’s fault in all cases.
It might have been a great cover story but Pam Bondi now says “heyyyyy I can maybe remove ICE if you give me your voter rolls.” Everything is a crass bloody deadly lying game and elk’s use of the word disgusting is greatly warranted.
Good news: Congress assembled budgets by regular order, but since Thune won’t remove the filibuster there might be a shutdown over ICE’s budget vote. UPSHOT: regular order means we’re going past $2.5 Trillion-in-the-hole on a long staircase instead of a greased coal chute.
Shooting American citizens in the streets = promises kept. That’s all this braindead press release will be remembered for. Do better, Senator. Ignoring bad events doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.
Remember in early 2024 when the Senate had a bipartisan immigration reform bill ready to go? However, Biden was president so Trump told congressional Republicans not to pass it so he could use immigration as his platform when running for President. Who was the minority whip? Oh yeah – John Thune 🙄 These people don’t give 2 shits about immigration, it’s all a smokescreen.
Agree 100% Jenny. At this point it’s party, power, and money — in no particular order.
South Dakotans deserve leaders who protect their citizens, not leaders who go silent while federal agents operate in ways that terrify ordinary people. At what point do Thune, Rounds, and Johnson acknowledge that what’s happening under Noem’s watch is unacceptable?
When American citizens — parents, nurses, neighbors — are being caught up pr killed in chaotic enforcement actions, something is seriously wrong. People should not be told to stay home or be herded into roped‑off areas just to avoid ICE. Driving a car, holding a cell‑phone camera, or legally carrying a firearm should not become a death sentence because untrained agents, hiding behind masks, can’t distinguish citizens from threats.
The officials who campaign on the Constitution should be the first ones demanding answers. Instead, we get silence. Silence while trust erodes. Silence while fear grows. South Dakotans aren’t asking for political drama — we’re asking for accountability, transparency, and leadership that puts the safety of the people above party loyalty.
Until someone in power steps up, this crisis of trust will only deepen. And with the influence our delegation holds in Washington — Thune, Rounds, and Johnson — their silence reflects directly on our state and its people.
Respect is being lost daily, and it’s happening because in my opinion, Noem’s arrogance and disregard for basic human decency shown in these incidents.
Well said Jenny