EXCLUSIVE — Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he saw a transformed border in the San Diego region during a visit over the weekend, compared to his experience under the Biden administration.
Lankford described to the Washington Examiner a “remarkable” shift in the morale of federal law enforcement tasked with guarding the nation’s borders since the Biden administration, when the United States experienced the greatest number of immigrants arrested on charges of illegally entering the country than any other administration.
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“It’s pretty, pretty remarkable to see the morale and the attitude of federal law enforcement,” Lankford said during a phone call Monday afternoon. “It was striking, the difference talking to the folks at [Customs and Border Protection] and the folks at Border Patrol about what they’re doing.”
“I just can’t begin to explain how much of a better place that they are in — the morale, how different it really is,” said Lankford, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “They are in such a better spirit.”
Morale had tanked as federal police assigned to the southern border were pulled from the international boundary between 2021 and 2024 to transport and watch over illegal immigrants in custody.
Lankford pointed to three additional changes that he saw during his solo trip to Southern California.
1. ‘Special interest alien’ arrests are down
The San Diego region of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border had the “greatest number” of what the federal government describes as “special interest aliens,” or people deemed suspicious because of their country of origin or terrorism associations.
Former San Diego Border Patrol Chief Aaron Heitke testified in September 2024 that his agents were intercepting immigrants from unusual countries not normally encountered trying to enter the country illegally.
During the first Trump administration, San Diego agents apprehended 10 to 15 special interest aliens per year. That figure exploded to more than 100 in 2022 and higher in 2023, Heitke testified.
Since then, illegal immigrant arrests have declined from more than 33,000 in March 2024 to less than 1,200 in March this year. Facilities that were set up to hold the tens of thousands crossing monthly have since been disbanded, according to Lankford.
First stop in San Diego: meeting with Border Patrol. They’ve made 45,000 apprehensions from 147 countries, more than anywhere else in the United States. Thank you, @CBP, for being our first line of defense. pic.twitter.com/adxhN07GA5
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) May 4, 2025
2. Drug smuggling is a top priority
Because Border Patrol agents who work between the ports of entry are not focused on the influx of illegal immigrants, they have pivoted to increasingly focus on thwarting drugs from entering the U.S.
“They’re going after drugs moving across the ports of entry,” Lankford said. “They’ve set up checkpoints again, which had been pulled down. It was just a stark difference. Their focus is really on interdicting drugs because the number of people coming across has dropped so fast. … They’re able to get the time to be able to detect it, find and chase down the leads, and to be able to go get after the narcotics.”
3. Increase in smuggling through the ocean
Border Patrol agents told Lankford that they have seen an uptick in maritime human smuggling, given that agents on land are on duty and ready to respond to attempted crossings.
“They’re receiving more attempts for smuggling coming in through the ocean, people trying to swim around the barrier, which they’ve got that well-placed,” Lankford said. “They just turn people around immediately. It’s folks that are jumping on jet skis and then taking jet skis up as fast as they can around the barrier to be able to come in.”
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Other people are in small boats that speed north along the coastline and attempt to drop off immigrants miles north of the border. The Coast Guard, which is responsible for guarding the coastline further out to sea, has also increased, he said.
“It’s also life-saving,” Lankford said. “They’ve had multiple times, these boats are not of the highest quality. It’s very dangerous how they operate them, and they’ve had times where they … flipped over and dumped everyone out into the water, no life jackets.”
.@USCG was kind enough to take me on a helicopter ride to show me all the ways they are working to keep illegal immigrants from coming into our country via water. They are doing excellent work by coordinating with border patrol and DoD. Thank you for your service! pic.twitter.com/WRF7XYvpoh
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford)
