Americans support legal immigration. What they reject is a system where the law means nothing, where crossings hit records, court cases take years, and nobody even tracks who leaves when their visa expires.
Encounters include apprehensions and inadmissibles at ports of entry. Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection [1].
Border numbers aren't the weather. They respond to policy. Encounters rose from under half a million in FY2020 to a record of nearly 2.5 million in FY2023 as enforcement policies were rolled back and the message spread that people who arrived would be released into the country to wait years for a hearing.
When enforcement tightened again in 2024 and 2025, crossings fell sharply to some of the lowest levels in decades. That's the lesson: the border can be controlled when Washington chooses to control it. The question is whether the fix will be written into law or left to the next administration to undo.
Tap or click each event to expand it. The pattern repeats: amnesty or relief now, enforcement "later," and later never comes.
President Reagan signed a deal: legal status for about 2.7 million people already here, in exchange for employer sanctions to stop future illegal hiring. The amnesty happened. Enforcement was weak, document fraud was rampant, and the unauthorized population grew again within a decade.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act required an automated system to track foreign visitors' entries and exits. Nearly three decades later, biometric exit tracking at airports is only partly deployed, and there's still no biometric exit system at land borders.
The bipartisan commission chaired by Barbara Jordan recommended reducing overall immigration levels, prioritizing skills and nuclear family, and creating a reliable electronic work-eligibility system. Its recommendations were largely shelved.
The 9/11 Commission found that several hijackers had violated immigration rules, including overstaying visas. It called finishing the entry-exit system a priority. Still unfinished.
Congress authorized roughly 700 miles of fencing with bipartisan votes, including from then-Senators Obama, Clinton and Biden. Construction lagged far behind the original mandate.
Following the rollback of policies like "Remain in Mexico," encounters at the southwest border hit all-time records three years running. Millions were released into the interior with court dates years away.
Tighter asylum rules in mid-2024 and a broad enforcement push in 2025 drove crossings down dramatically. The open question: will Congress lock in reforms by statute so this doesn't happen again?
Both sides spin this issue. Here's what the evidence actually says, including the parts that complicate the talking points.
"The border is a single problem: people climbing the wall."
Tap to see the facts ↻A large share of the unauthorized population entered legally and overstayed a visa. Research by the Center for Migration Studies has estimated that overstays outnumbered illegal border crossings in many recent years. That's why a real fix needs exit tracking and E-Verify, not just barriers.
"Most fentanyl is carried across the open desert by migrants."
Tap to see the facts ↻CBP data shows most fentanyl is seized at official ports of entry, often hidden in vehicles and cargo and frequently carried by U.S. citizens working for cartels. The fix: scan every vehicle and container with high-tech inspection equipment, and treat the cartels as the national-security threat they are.
"Asylum claims are quickly decided, so the system works."
Tap to see the facts ↻With roughly 3 million pending cases (after a peak near 3.7 million), immigration court hearings can be scheduled years out. A backlog that long works as a de facto permit. Real asylum seekers wait in limbo, and people with weak claims get years in the country. Both are failures.
"Wanting border enforcement means you're against immigrants."
Tap to see the facts ↻Many of the strongest supporters of enforcement are legal immigrants who waited years and followed every rule. Enforcing the law is fair to them. America First is about the rule of law and American workers, not about anyone's background.
"Only Republicans have ever called for border security."
Tap to see the facts ↻The 2006 Secure Fence Act passed with major Democratic support. In the 1990s, Democrat Barbara Jordan's commission called for lower immigration and stronger enforcement, and Bill Clinton endorsed its findings. This was once a bipartisan consensus.
"There's nothing Congress can do. It's all up to the president."
Tap to see the facts ↻Executive actions get reversed every time the White House changes hands. Only Congress can make reforms permanent: mandatory E-Verify, asylum reform, more immigration judges, and funding for exit tracking. That's why calling your representatives matters.
When employers can hire off the books, it's American workers in construction, meatpacking, hospitality and agriculture who feel it first.
Economists debate the overall effect of immigration on wages, but there's broad agreement that large inflows of lower-skilled labor put the most pressure on workers without a high school diploma, including many earlier immigrants. Employers who hire illegally also undercut competitors who follow the law.
On the high-skill side, the H-1B program has repeatedly been used to replace American tech workers. In several well-documented cases, laid-off employees were required to train their own foreign replacements.
The federal E-Verify system checks work eligibility in seconds. It's still voluntary for most private employers nationwide.
Worksite enforcement targeting employers who knowingly hire illegally has been inconsistent for decades.
Prioritize the highest-wage applicants and bar companies from using visas to replace American staff.
Written into law, so the next administration can't erase it with a pen stroke.
Turn off the jobs magnet. Phase in mandatory electronic work verification for all employers, with real penalties for knowingly hiring illegally.
Deliver the system Congress ordered in 1996 so visa overstays are identified and acted on.
Fully fund non-intrusive inspection technology to stop fentanyl where most of it actually crosses.
Require claims at ports of entry and raise the initial screening standard so weak claims are decided quickly and real refugees aren't stuck behind them.
Hire immigration judges and streamline procedures so cases are decided in months, not years.
Physical barriers in high-traffic urban sectors, plus sensors, towers and personnel across remote terrain.
Use financial sanctions and security cooperation to dismantle the smuggling networks that profit from every crossing.
Set legal immigration levels by what benefits American workers. Favor skills, English proficiency and assimilation.