Trump Reveals His Number One Policy Priority For Second Term

Former President Donald Trump revealed that securing the southern border is his top policy priority if re-elected for a second term during an interview that aired during the Republican presidential debate Wednesday night.

Illegal migrant encounters at the southern border have skyrocketed since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol recorded more than 2.2 million illegal migrant encounters, which was up from roughly 1.6 million in fiscal year 2021, according to federal data.

“Number one is the border and taking hundreds of thousands of criminals that have been allowed into our country and getting them out and bringing them back to their country. Guatemala, by the way, not only the four countries we think of as neighbors, all over the world,” Trump said.

Border Patrol has also recorded record numbers of illegal alien apprehensions of individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist. So far in fiscal year 2023, Border Patrol has recorded 146 such encounters at the southern border, compared to 98 in fiscal year 2022 and 15 in fiscal year 2021, according to federal data.

“Last month, we had 149 countries represented. Think of it, we had 149 countries represented, Tucker, from places that many people never even heard of coming into our country, and they’re coming in from mental institutions and they’re coming in from prisons, they’re emptying out their prisons all over South America. They’re emptying out their mental institutions. Terrorists are pouring into our country, we have no idea,” Trump said.

“I had the strongest border in the history of our country, and I built almost 500 miles of wall,” he continued.