In an earlier article, we explained how a broken border becomes a bill for local taxpayers. But thanks to the Trump Effect there is now a policy that can stop that bill from growing.
For 15 straight months, U.S. Border Patrol reported releasing no one apprehended at the southern border into the United States.
That is what ending catch-and-release looks like: an illegal crossing is no longer the first step toward years of living in the country while a case moves through court. It leads instead to detention, return, or removal.
The message is simple
- Cross illegally and get caught, and expect custody – not a free pass into the country
- No lawful right to remain means return or removal.
- An asylum claim is not an automatic ticket into an American community
Ending Catch and Release changes the calculation for the next person considering the journey. Under the old system, even an unsuccessful crossing could still end in release, a job, children enrolled in school, and a hearing years later. But, when the likely result is detention or removal, fewer people will pay a smuggler and risk the trip.
The numbers reflect that change. Border Patrol recorded 9,295 apprehensions along the southwest border in July 2026 – 94 percent below the Biden administration’s monthly average, according to CBP. Reuters also reported that migrant shelters in Ciudad Juarez were only about 15 percent full as fewer migrants headed north.
What this means to Taxpayers
The cost of catch-and-release does not stop at the Rio Grande. Large numbers of people released into the country can add pressure to schools, emergency rooms, housing, local services, and an already burdened immigration court system.
Detention and removal cost money, too. But stopping releases prevents the government from adding thousands of new, unresolved cases – and the costs that can follow them – month after month.
The least expensive illegal crossing is the one that is deterred before it happens. That is the lasting taxpayer benefit: not a one-day headline, but a smaller future burden on schools, hospitals, communities, and government budgets.
Then and Now
In April 2024, while Biden was in charge, CBP reported that Border Patrol released more than 68,000 people into the United States after apprehending them at the southwest border. Under Trump, by July 2026, Border Patrol had reported zero releases for the 15 consecutive months, while illegal crossings remained dramatically low.
One policy turned a border arrest into a waiting room for entry into the country.
The other treats the border as…a border!
Keeping this progress requires Congress to fund detention space, Border Patrol agents, immigration judges, and removals – and to resist a return to catch and release as the default.
The Trump administration has shown what happens when the incentive changes.
Voting Republican in the midterms is how voters help keep that policy in place and prevent the border from sliding backward.
