Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, the Department of Homeland Security Has Historic Year

 

Today, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) year-end accomplishments, celebrating one of the most consequential periods of action and reform in American history.  

Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS is restoring the rule of law, delivering the most secure border ever, removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens, creating safer communities, strengthening cyber defense, fixing disaster response, launching initiatives that are reshaping American travel and national security, and making America safe for generations to come.  

“In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history—and this Administration is just getting started,” Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first. In record-time we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels, and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens. Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done.”  

In President Trump’s first year back in office, more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations.   

Since President Trump took office, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has been cut down by half compared to the same period in 2024. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) alone has seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans.   

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion at DHS and returned key agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Secret Service back to their core missions.   

Countless lives have been saved, communities have been strengthened, and the American people have been put first again. These are only a few examples of DHS’s accomplishments under Secretary Noem that have positioned the U.S. to enter a new era of national strength and a better future for all U.S. citizens.  

Below are more examples of DHS’s accomplishments since President Trump took office on January 20th, 2025:  

Most Secure Border in American History  

In a matter of weeks, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) delivered the most secure border in American history. It has stayed secure ever since. Now, the wins keep piling up:  

Under President Trump and Secretary Noem:  

• Border crossings are down 93% year-over-year.   
• Illegal alien apprehensions at the southwest border are down to an average of 245 per day.
• From May to November, seven consecutive months, the United States Border Patrol (USBP) released ZERO illegal aliens into the country.
• Under the Trump administration, there have been 73,329 total apprehensions along the southwest border, which is 53% less than the monthly average of 155,485 during the Biden administration.    
• USBP nationwide apprehensions have averaged under 10,000 per month since President Trump took office – a level of sustained deterrence unmatched in modern border history.
• Fiscal Year 2026 has seen the lowest start to a fiscal year ever - 60,940 total encounters nationwide in October and November – lower than any prior fiscal year to date.   
• CBP has seized 539,984 pounds of drugs—a nearly 10% increase compared to the same time frame in 2024.
• CBP awarded more than $5 billion in new border wall contracts, funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in record time. It also awarded a $37 billion acquisition vehicle to support this work to seal the border wall.
• CBP led the deployment of more than 130,000 feet of temporary barriers, to include concertina wire, along with the Department of War and the State of Texas, to secure critical gaps.
• CBP published 24 critical waivers, allowing the agency to cut through the bureaucratic red tape to expedite border wall construction.
• Since January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration has significantly increased CBP hiring, with monthly averages showing a 42.5% increase in CBP officer new hires, and an 84% increase in Border Patrol agent new hires, compared to the same time period last year.
• CBP implemented 41 Presidential Actions on trade, addressing illicit drugs, public safety threats, and critical imports.   
• CBP assessed over $190.7 billion in tariff revenue and $266.7 billion in total customs revenue.
• CBP conducted 387 audits from January 20–November 7, 2025, identifying $1.43 billion in trade revenue and collecting $225 million.   
• CBP ended de minimis duty-free treatment on August 29, closing loopholes exploited for narcotics and contraband.   
• In August 2025, CBP created the National Targeting Center’s Trade Fraud Targeting Cell to combat trade fraud schemes in support of current presidential actions.    

Arresting and Removing the Worst of the Worst Criminal Illegal Aliens  

Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, DHS has arrested and deported hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens across the country, including gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers, thanks to the brave men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), CBP, and other law enforcement immigration enforcement agencies. Seventy percent of those arrested by ICE are criminal illegal aliens who have been charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.  

DHS has removed more than 622,000 illegal aliens and 1.9 million illegal aliens have self-deported.  

And, nationwide, ICE, CBP, and other immigration law enforcement are targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens for arrest and deportation through targeted enforcement operations in cities throughout the country:  

• Operation Midway Blitz was launched in Chicago and the Midwest in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run car wreck caused by a criminal illegal alien.   
• Operation Midway Blitz has resulted in the arrest of more than 4,500 illegal aliens.   
• In the Minneapolis area, DHS has arrested more than 670 as part of “Operation Metro Surge.”
• In Florida, Operation Criminal Return, AKA “Operation Dirtbag,” has led to the arrests of more than 220 illegal aliens, including more than 150 sex offenders.
• In Massachusetts, Operations Patriot 1.0 and Patriot 2.0 have resulted in over 2,860 arrests.
• In New Orleans, Operation Catahoula Crunch has resulted in the arrest of approximately 370 illegal aliens since early December.
• In Los Angeles, more than 10,000 illegal aliens have been arrested.
• In Portland, Oregon, Operation Black Rose has resulted in the arrests of more than 1,240 illegal aliens to date.   

DHS has also empowered state and local law enforcement to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets.   

• DHS secured more than 1,255 signed agreements with state and local partnerships under Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g).
• Operation Tidal Wave, the first-of-its-kind 287(g) enforcement operation coordinated with state and federal law enforcement partners, resulted in 1,100 arrests in six days.
• Thanks to the 287(g) program, DHS partnered with the State of Florida on Alligator Alcatraz, the State of Indiana on the Speedway Slammer, the state of Nebraska on Cornhusker Clink, and the State of Louisiana on Louisiana Lockup to expand detention space by the thousands.  

DHS also launched the critically acclaimed, groundbreaking new web page, “Worst of the Worst” (wow.dhs.gov), which allows visitors to search through some of the hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens arrested during enforcement operations since the start of the Trump administration.   

DHS Smashes Recruitment Records  

• Launched Defend the Homeland; a historic nationwide campaign aimed at recruiting Americans to join ICE and help President Trump and Secretary Noem remove criminal illegal aliens.   
• Since the campaign took off, ICE has received more than  220,000 applications.
• ICE is on target to hire 10,000 new officers by the end of 2025. Some of these new officers are already on the job.
• Since January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration has significantly increased the velocity and volume of CBP hiring, with monthly averages showing a 42.5% increase in CBP officer (CBPO) new hires, and an 84% increase in Border Patrol Agent (BPA) new hires, compared to the same time period last year.
• USCIS has begun recruiting new “Homeland Defenders,” who will better support the agency’s mission and bolster efforts to combat fraud and other threats.   
• Since launching the hiring campaign on September 30, USCIS has received more than 50,000 applications — the highest in agency history. The first Homeland Defenders began reporting for duty in early December 2025.
• Since January 20, United States Secret Service received over 91,000 applications to join its ranks.
• That is a 46% increase over the same period in 2024.
• In Fiscal Year 2025, the Coast Guard surpassed its recruiting goals with 121% of its target for the fiscal year, totaling 5,204 new members – the highest since 1991.   

DHS Locates Biden’s Missing Children  

• Under President Trump, DHS and Department of Health and Human Services have located more than 129,143 unaccompanied children that the Biden Administration lost.  

Secretary Noem Reopens Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office  

• President Trump and Secretary Noem reopened the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office so that Americans harmed by illegal alien crime have a voice in the government and a place to turn to for help. Shockingly, the Biden administration closed this office.   

Fixing Our Immigration System so that the American People Come First  

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is restoring integrity to our nation’s immigration policies and has instituted dynamic changes to ensure that only individuals who love America, align with our culture, and share our values, are welcomed into the country.   

• USCIS made history with its fraud investigation,  Operation Twin Shield, the agency’s largest enforcement operation to date.   
• Launched in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, USCIS focused on more than 1,000 cases that had fraud or ineligibility indicators, attempted over 2,000 site visits to homes and workplaces, and completed nearly 1,500 in-person interviews with aliens during the operation.   
• USCIS found evidence of fraud, non-compliance with immigration law, or public safety or national security concerns in more than 500 of cases.
• Operation Twin Shield has so far led to the denial of immigration benefits, the issuance of numerous Notices to Appear, and nearly a dozen arrests by ICE.   
• Within hours of the November 26 attack where an Afghan national murdered one National Guard member and severely wounded another, USCIS slammed the doors shut on asylum processing for aliens from every country, implemented a full-scale reexamination of every Green Card for aliens from every presidentially designated high-risk country, and placed a hold on the processing of immigration applications and petitions for all Afghan nationals and aliens from 19 high-risk countries of concern.
• USCIS has also revamped U.S. immigration policy that had been weakened and lobotomized by previous administrations to realign it with American values, issuing policy guidance emphasizing that there is no room in America for aliens who espouse anti-American ideologies or support terrorist organizations.
• Since January 20, USCIS has referred more than 14,400 aliens to ICE for public safety, national security, and fraud concerns, including 182 aliens who were confirmed or suspected to be national security risks.
• Since January 20, the agency has been actively collaborating with other agencies on immigration enforcement and public safety efforts, resulting in more than 2,400 arrests at USCIS field offices.   
• Under an updated policy confirming USCIS’ role as an immigration enforcement agency, the agency’s officers are once again empowered to enforce immigration law by issuing Notices to Appear (NTAs).   
• Since January 20, USCIS officers have issued approximately 196,600 NTAs to place aliens in removal proceedings.
• Since January 20, USCIS officers have made over 29,000 fraud referrals to the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) Directorate.
• FDNS has completed investigations on more than 19,300 fraud cases and identified fraud in 65% of them.
• The agency has also strengthened policy guidance to ensure there is no legal defense for a false claim of U.S. citizenship.
• In a pivotal move to protect American workers, USCIS changed regulation to ensure that aliens will no longer receive an automatic extension of their employment authorization when seeking renewal in certain employment authorization categories.   
• The agency also reduced the maximum validity period for certain employment authorization documents from 5 years to 18 months to ensure more frequent vetting and screening of aliens.   
• USCIS is advancing the administration’s goal of ending the abuse and exploitation in certain immigration programs.   
• This includes stopping broad abuse of humanitarian parole authority and terminating the family reunification and the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole programs.
• DHS is returning parole to a case-by-case basis as intended by Congress after the Biden Administration abused Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to flood our country with hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals.
• Secretary Noem ended TPS for Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela, and issued orders for these foreign nationals to self-deport.
• On September 17, USCIS announced a revised version of the citizenship test that expanded the question bank from 100 to 128 questions, increased the number of questions on each test from 10 to 20, raised the passing score from 6 to 12 correct responses, and revised the questions to ensure the test provides a more meaningful assessment of the alien’s knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government.   
• USCIS launched enhancements to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) service that allow states to verify citizenship using the last four digits of Social Security numbers and run queries in bulk at no charge. This enhancement has provided federal officers and employees with a critical tool to verify legal status at a moment’s notice.
• DHS proposed a rule on November 19 to rescind the 2022 Public Charge final rule and restore USCIS’ discretion when making a determination on whether an alien seeking legal status in the United States would become reliant on government assistance. Our nation will no longer import foreign nationals who will become a drain on the American taxpayer.   

Ushering in the Golden Age of Travel  

The Transportation Security Administration is ushering in the Golden Age of Travel.   

Under President Trump and Secretary Noem:  

• TSA ended the Obama-era “Quiet Skies” program, which was used to spy on Americans, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, as well as members of Congress.   
• TSA launched the “Shoes On” Campaign, allowing travelers to keep their shoes on while passing through security screening at TSA checkpoints.
• TSA successfully implemented REAL ID on May 7th and achieved 94% compliance, which continues to steadily increase.
• TSA launched two targeted campaigns including the “Serve with Honor, Travel with Ease” campaign and the “Families on the Fly” campaign, and the first-ever TSA PreCheck Buy One, Get One Discounted offer.
• TSA initiated historic hospitality training for the TSA workforce to improve customer experience.
• TSA kept wait times at an average of 3 minutes for PreCheck and 5-6 minutes in standard, far below operational limits during the 43-day long shutdown.
• Secretary Noem awarded $10,000 bonuses to TSA officers and personnel who displayed exemplary service, overcame hardships, and displayed the utmost patriotism during the Democrat shutdown.   

Securing the High Seas, Defending Our Maritime Borders, And Saving American Lives   

The U.S. Coast Guard is smashing records and being revitalized into one of the world’s most elite fighting forces that can meet the challenges of the 21st century.     

• Since January 2025, Coast Guard seizures of illegal narcotics are up 200%.   
• Since January 20th, the U.S. Coast Guard seized nearly 470,000 pounds of cocaine — enough to kill up to 177 million Americans at a 1.2g lethal dose.   
• Interdictions, deterrence events, and transportation of illegal aliens are up 120%.   
• In July, during catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country, the Coast Guard’s immediate response helped save countless American lives.   
• Rescue Swimmer Scott Ruskan and his aircrew coordinated the rescue of 169 people.   
• In August, the Coast Guard launched Operation Pacific Viper, surging forces to the Eastern Pacific to stop the cartels and criminal organizations—interdicting drugs and illegal aliens before they reach American shores.      
• Coast Guard crews seized over 100,000 pounds of illegal narcotics, averaging approximately 1,600 pounds of cocaine interdicted daily.    
• Operation Pacific Viper yielded the Coast Guard’s largest-ever drug offload in its history.
• The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Hamilton offloaded over 76,000 pounds of illegal drugs, valued at $473 million, at Port Everglades, which included approximately 61,740 pounds of cocaine and approximately 14,400 pounds of marijuana.
• During Operation Pacific Viper, USCGC Stone offloaded approximately 49,010 pounds of illicit narcotics worth more than $362 million at Port Everglades, Florida.     
• This offload marks the largest amount of cocaine seized by a single cutter in one patrol in Coast Guard history.    
• On December 2nd, USCGC Munro  seized over 20,000 pounds of cocaine in a single interdiction.    
• This was the Coast Guard’s largest at-sea interdiction since March 2007.
• During Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) conducted its 1,000th counter-narcotics interdiction, successfully using airborne use of force to disable a narco-smuggling vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.   
• In October, the Coast Guard launched Operation River Wall to control, secure, and defend approximately 260 miles of the Rio Grande River by deploying response boats and shallow watercraft, command and control assets, and tactical teams to the region.   
• In August, the Coast Guard commissioned USCGC Storis, the Coast Guard’s first polar icebreaker commissioned in over 25 years.     

Restoring Excellence at Secret Service  

The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) is getting back on track. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, only the best of the best will be allowed to serve.  

Since January 20th:   

• Secret Service has supported approximately 6,524 protective visits both domestically and overseas for 38 full-time protectees.
• Secret Service successfully developed and executed the security plan for four National Special Security Events:   
• The 2025 Inauguration of President Trump, President Trump’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress, the 2025 UN General Assembly (UNGA, 80th Session), and the Army’s 250th Birthday Celebration.
• Secret Service provided Presidential protection during multiple major events, including:
• Super Bowl LIX (New Orleans, LA), Daytona 500 (Daytona Beach, FL), Charlie Kirk’s Funeral (Glendale, AZ), Ryder Cup (Farmingdale, NY), Washington Commanders Game (Salute to Service) (Landover, MD), and the 126th Army-Navy Game (Baltimore, MD).
• The National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) continues to advance their mission of violence prevention. In 2025, the NTAC delivered more than 364 trainings and briefings to more than 56,713 participants – both the highest calendar year totals in NTAC history. NTAC training recipients included law enforcement agencies, schools, mental health providers, faith-based organizations, government agencies, and private sector entities.
• Secret Service completed 21 anti-card skimming and electronic benefits transfer fraud outreach operations in various locations around the United States. These outreach operations prevented an estimated $407 million in fraud loss.
• Secret Service launched the agency’s new Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit (ATIU). The ATIU provided advanced threat detection and mitigation capabilities for evolving threats and the USSS protective mission nexus.  

Ending the Censorship of Americans and Defending our Critical Infrastructure  

Under Biden, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was used to censor and target Americans. It was shameful, wrong, and unconstitutional. Now, thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem:  

• CISA is back on-mission and focused on doing its job: Protecting critical infrastructure from cyber and physical threats.
• CISA personnel are deployed across 10 regions in support of all 56 states/territories and are actively working with local, federal, and international partners to identify emerging threats and issue alerts, advisories or provide guidance to mitigate these threats.
• CISA has issued three emergency directives to mitigate vulnerabilities and ensure strong cyber defenses across the federal government ecosystem.   
• CISA has co-sealed 37 joint cybersecurity advisories that continually demonstrate operational collaboration in action.
• CISA continues to equip cyber defenders with essential tools to secure their systems including the Eviction Strategies Tool, a no-cost resource for incident response, and Thorium, an automated, scalable platform for malware and forensic analysis.
• On August 1, CISA and FEMA announced the availability of over $100 million in cybersecurity grant funding to strengthen state, local, and tribal government community cybersecurity.
• In September, CISA released CISA Strategic Focus: CVE Quality for a Cyber Secure Future, a roadmap outlining key priorities to enhance the CVE quality and better serve the global cybersecurity community.
• CISA launched the new Industry Engagement Platform (IEP) designed to facilitate two-way communication between the agency and companies developing innovative and security technologies.
• CISA has issued more than 1,000 pre-ransomware notifications and cataloged 220 known exploited vulnerabilities.
• CISA added 38 Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs) to the national catalog, enabling faster remediation across public and private sectors.
• Executed Emergency Directives to address zero-day vulnerabilities in F5 devices and Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) which were exploited by nation-state Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). This resulted in thousands of federal devices or public-facing devices being patched and secured.
• Published the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Detection Technology Guide to support critical infrastructure operators address increasing drone threats in support of Executive Order 14305 on airspace sovereignty.
• Supported 19 pre–World Cup 2026 exercises to ensure operational readiness.   
• Improved data ingestion tools, saving $6.5 million annually while enhancing speed and scalability.
• Deployed automated communication for the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), expanding real-time communications to more than 20,000 state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners.   

Fixing Disaster Response to Streamline Resources to Communities in Need, Cutting Off Illegal Aliens   

For decades, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was bloated by waste, fraud, and abuse. Now, under President Trump and Secretary Noem, FEMA is being transformed, empowering disaster response that is federally supported, state led, and locally executed:  

• At Secretary Noem’s direction, FEMA has conducted a critical evaluation of all grant programs and recipients to root out waste, fraud, and abuse and deliver accountability for the American taxpayer.
• FEMA returned nearly $3.5 billion to American communities for emergency preparedness.
• Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, recipients of FEMA grants are no longer permitted to use federal funds to house illegal aliens at luxury hotels, fund climate change pet projects, or empower radical organizations with unseemly ties that don’t serve the interest of the American people.
• In February, Secretary Noem fired four FEMA workers who attempted to send $59 million in funding to the notorious “Roosevelt Hotel” to continue paying for housing illegal aliens.
• Following President Trump’s emergency declaration for New Mexico’s June 2025 storms and flooding, FEMA rapidly deployed Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) capabilities to support state and local operations.
• FEMA’s search and rescue team seamlessly integrated into state-led efforts, working to locate and assist individuals who were in danger due to flooding and landslides, helping to protect lives and stabilize affected communities.
• In response to the flooding in Texas in July, DHS and FEMA delivered one of the fastest, most coordinated federal disaster responses in Texas history – approving a major disaster declaration within hours, deploying FEMA staff and incident support teams within five hours, deploying US&R within 24 hours, and surging Coast Guard water rescue assets to the impacted areas, saving hundreds of lives.   
• Governor Abbott called FEMA an “exceptional” partner and praised the response as the fastest and most coordinated he has seen, as FEMA rapidly fulfilled all state requests to support life-saving operations and recovery efforts.
• In October, following the severe flooding in Alaska, Secretary Noem approved $1 million in expedited FEMA Public Assistance funding to Alaska, providing immediate resources to stabilize dangerous conditions and support critical storm recovery operations.
• President Trump and Secretary Noem approved $59 million in expedited FEMA Public Assistance funding to support Missouri’s tornado recovery, focusing on debris removal and demolition of tornado-damaged properties in St. Louis.
• This funding accelerated overall recovery efforts – enabling the state of Missouri to lead this effort with technical support from FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
• FEMA implemented Rapid Assessment with Public Infrastructure Data (RAPID), an accelerated approach to Public Assistance grant formulation that helps states get the funds they need to rebuild infrastructure at historic speeds.
• With RAPID, FEMA uses geospatial data and publicly available information to develop cost estimates for facilities that are damaged beyond repair instead of traditional site inspections. This significantly reduces the burden on applicants and accelerates the availability of grant assistance.   
• Since national implementation in July, RAPID has been used in 105 infrastructure recovery projects representing more than $374 million in recovery funding.   
• This streamlined approach cut program processing time from an average of 396 days to 135 days – and, in some cases, achieving unprecedented permanent work obligations in as few as 47 days.   
• FEMA modernized how the agency interacts with disaster survivors – with improvements to the online application on DisasterAssistance.gov, clearer letters, and short explanation videos that walk people through the process step by step. These improvements included:    
• A new application status tracker that visually shows and describes where survivors are in the application process. Survivors no longer need to solely rely on the FEMA Helpline to get updates on the status of their application – cutting down on calls to the Helpline.   
• Guided videos to help inform survivors on what to expect during and after they complete an application for disaster assistance.   
• In alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order to modernize federal payments, FEMA partnered with the U.S. Treasury to provide new options for survivors to receive their disaster assistance money faster and more securely.   
• In 2025, FEMA launched the Direct-to-Consumer Flood Insurance Quoting Tool to expand ways that people can access flood insurance quotes.  

DHS is just getting started under President Donald Trump and Secretary Noem. The best is yet to come.