2 Months of Decisive Action: Securing the Southern Border

Illegal crossings are the lowest they have ever been - now we need to set the foundation to keep that there

by Army Maj. Wes Shinego, DOD News (excerpt)

img: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits Joint Task Force North, U.S. Northern Command, to see the efforts military men and women are undertaking in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure the southern border at Fort Bliss, Texas, Feb. 3, 2025.

In the 2 months since President Donald J. Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, the administration has launched a multifront campaign to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, targeting cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and illegal immigration.

The 52-day period marks a shift in national security priorities, with the administration designating cartels as terrorist threats and deploying thousands of troops, resulting in a 94% reduction in unlawful border crossings.

Backed by executive orders, military resources, and international cooperation, these efforts signal a change in border enforcement aimed at restoring sovereignty and protecting American communities.

A New National Security Framework

On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order designating Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, elevating them to the same threat level as ISIS or al-Qaida.

That move, long advocated by national security experts, reframes cartels as existential dangers rather than criminal enterprises.

Attorney General Pam Bondi's subsequent Department of Justice memo operationalized this shift, directing prosecutors to pursue terrorism charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B alongside traditional drug trafficking and racketeering offenses.

By streamlining processes — suspending National Security Division approvals and fast-tracking terrorism-related warrants — the DOJ has empowered law enforcement to act swiftly against cartel leaders with penalties now including life imprisonment or the death penalty.

That legal overhaul complements a broader strategic pivot. While the administration continues to prioritize near-peer competitors like China and Russia, it has closed the gray area that cartels exploited for decades.

The result is a unified approach that marshals the full weight of U.S. national security resources to dismantle these organizations that control over 80% of illegal drugs, such as fentanyl entering the U.S. and earning billions from human trafficking.

Military Mobilization and Operational Control

Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Defense Department has matched this policy shift with unprecedented action. Within 36 hours of Trump's Jan. 20 executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border, Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses announced the deployment of 1,500 active-duty troops, making the total 4,000 alongside 2,500 reservists already in place.