DHS Sets the Stage for Another Historic, Record-Breaking Year Under President Trump

 

Secretary Noem Keeps America Safe, Transforms DHS

On November 5, 2024, the American people gave President Donald Trump a clear mandate to secure our borders, end illegal immigration, take criminal aliens off our streets, protect the American taxpayer, and Make America Safe Again. Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump has delivered on this mandate from the American people in historic fashion thanks to the hardworking men and women the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Under the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s leadership this past year, DHS has been hard at work 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.

DHS has set the stage to break even more records and make even more history in President Trump’s second year.

“In President Trump’s first year back in office, nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 675,000 deportations.”

“In the last year, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has also been cut by more than half compared to the same period in 2024,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “The U.S. Coast Guard alone seized enough cocaine to kill more than 177 million Americans.”

“Meanwhile, we have saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion here at DHS. Countless lives have been saved, communities have been strengthened, and the American people have been put first again.”

Securing the Border to Historic Levels

President Trump ran on securing the border and fixing the border crisis that took place under his predecessor Joe Biden. In his first year in his office, President Trump delivered the most secure border in U.S. history.

Since May, the United States Border Patrol has released zero illegal aliens into the country. Apprehensions at the southern border have reached historic lows.

In fact, total U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) apprehensions along the southwest border in the first year of the current administration (90,084) were less than the average month during the Biden administration (155,485). USBP apprehensions over the last 12 months were the lowest ever recorded in CBP history (i.e., both Jan. 20-Jan.20 and Jan-Dec.)

In President Trump’s first year, USBP recorded 95% fewer encounters per day along the southwest border than during the Biden administration, with daily average encounters along the southwest border 1,936% higher during the Biden administration than during the first year of the current administration.

Currently, USBP’s daily average southwest border encounters under the current administration to date are 251. Meanwhile, USBP’s daily average southwest border encounters under the Biden administration were 5,110.

USBP nationwide apprehensions have averaged under 9,000 per month since President Trump took office – a level of sustained deterrence unmatched in modern border history. USBP had never previously recorded a single month below 10,000 nationwide apprehensions dating back to 1992.

In January 2026, the border received additional reinforcement when CBP commenced installation of the first waterborne barriers funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. 

During the first year of the current administration, CBP also implemented 42 Presidential Actions on trade, addressing illicit drugs, public safety threats, and critical imports.

Through the end of December, CBP collected $297 billion from all tariffs, taxes, and fees (total customs revenue).

CBP will continue to play a central role in executing the President’s tariff policy as trade enforcement and revenue collection authorities and will continue working closely with DHS and other partner agencies to deliver a world-class, seamless, and secure experience for all travelers and participants at the FIFA World Cup 2026.  These efforts will include implementing robust security measures while ensuring efficient facilitation, utilizing advanced technologies, strengthening strategic partnerships, and executing extensive operational planning across all U.S. host cities and key ports of entry.

The border wall will also be receiving reinforcement in 2026, with CBP moving quickly to obligate funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025, with over $11 billion of the $46.5 billion in funds obligated to date, for border wall construction.

In 2026, CBP will continue to deliver the most secure border ever and continue to support ICE operations by arresting and removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from our nation’s interior.

Ending the Scourge of Illegal Immigration

President Donald Trump promised to end the scourge of illegal immigration and deport 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.

Nearly 3 million illegal aliens are out of the country, as DHS has removed more than 675,000 illegal aliens and estimated 2.2 million illegal aliens have self-deported.

ICE and CBP have conducted operations in cities nationwide, resulting in hundreds of thousands of arrests.

In late December, for example, ICE announced the successful conclusion of Operation Angel’s Honor, a 14-day operation named in honor of Laken Riley, during which the agency arrested more than 1,030 criminal illegal aliens under the authority of the Laken Riley Act — a law signed by President Trump in 2025 that mandates that any illegal alien who has been accused of a violent crime such as theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, or any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury must be placed under arrest.   

Seventy percent of those arrested by ICE are convicted criminals or have criminal charges. During President Trump’s first year, ICE arrested 43,305 potential national security risks. ICE has arrested 1,416 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) and has removed 1,392 KSTs, and more than 7,000 gang arrests.

Now, in 2026, ICE has the ground running with 120% more officers and agents after hiring 12,000 Americans to help President Trump deliver on his signature promise.

In 2025, DHS paved the way for state and local law enforcement to arrests criminal illegal aliens off our streets in President Trump’s second year.

In President Trump’s first year, DHS secured more than 1,255 signed agreements with state and local partnerships under Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g).

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. 

This tremendous enforcement of the law has resulted in safer cities, plummeting fentanyl overdoses, cheaper rents, higher wages, and a better quality of life for millions of Americans.

Finding 132,000 Children Biden’s Lost

Under President Trump, DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services have located 132,720 unaccompanied children that the Biden administration lost. Too many of these children were exploited and abused before, during, and after being trafficked over our borders. All told, the Biden administration lost more than 450,000 children because of its open border policies. We will continue to ramp up efforts and will not stop until every last child is found.

Putting the U.S. Citizen First in America’s Immigration System

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. Most importantly, Secretary Noem and President Trump are making sure that any form of legal immigration will benefit the U.S. citizen and does not pose harm to our well-bring and way of life.

In President Trump’s first year, 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.

In year two, USCIS is implementing the Department of Homeland Security’s new rule to prioritize the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens, which will better American protect wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers.

Last week, USCIS announced a new rule that reduces wait times for thousands of religious organizations and their communities—including priests, nuns, and rabbis—who previously were required to remain outside the United States before returning to resume their essential services. This rule protects and preserves freedom and expression of religion while easing burdens on those who shape the social and moral fabric of the country.

Under an updated policy confirming USCIS’ role as an immigration enforcement agency, agency officers are once again empowered to enforce immigration law by issuing Notices to Appear. So far, they have done so in historic numbers. Since January 20, USCIS officers have issued approximately 196,600 Notices to Appear to place aliens in removal proceedings.

USCIS has begun recruiting 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.

Within hours of the November 26 attack where an Afghan national murdered one National Guard member and severely wounded another, Secretary Noem directed USCIS to put asylum processing on hold 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 those countries of concern.

USCIS is advancing the administration’s and Secretary Noem’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 and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Venezuela.

Revitalizing the Coast Guard for the 21st Century

President Trump’s plan was simple when he became President of the United States. He wanted to revitalize the Coast Guard, equip it with the best technology, ships, and aircraft available, and then recruit the men and women that were necessary to run it all.

Secretary Noem put his plan into action, and now the Coast Guard is better positioned today than at any point in history to control, secure, and defend the U.S. southern border and maritime approaches; facilitate the uninterrupted flow of commerce; and rapidly respond to national and global contingencies.

In President Trump’s first year, the Coast Guard stopped drugs before they reached our shores, kept illegal aliens out of the country, rescued Americans, made the economy work, and saw a recruitment surge:

• Record-Setting Counter-Drug Operations:
  • Since January 20th, 2025, 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.
• Controlling, Securing, and Defending U.S. Borders and Maritime Approaches:
  • Coast Guard operations such as Operation Border Trident and Operation River Wall increased interdictions of illegal aliens by 44% in key regions and secured over 100,000 miles of U.S. border. Advanced unmanned systems and intelligence-driven patrols have strengthened America’s maritime domain dominance.
• Facilitating Commerce and Rapid Crisis Response:
  • The Coast Guard enabled the safe movement of 1.8 billion tons of cargo, an increase of 13% from the previous year, supporting an economic engine projected to move $5.4 trillion in goods in 2026.
  • Coast Guard crews also saved nearly 5,000 lives and protected nearly $1 billion in property through thousands of search and rescue missions and rapid responses to major contingencies.
• Transforming Workforce Readiness and Recruitment:
  • Force Design 2028 drove record-setting recruitment, exceeding 110% of active-duty enlisted goals and accessing over 5,200 new members, the highest since 1991.
  • The Coast Guard is on track to expand the force by 15,000 members, ensuring a healthier, more resilient, and mission-ready workforce to meet evolving demands.
• Accelerating Modernization and Future Capabilities:
  • Looking ahead to 2026, the Coast Guard will implement major structural reforms, including the establishment of a Deployable Specialized Forces Command, expansion of training capacity, and rapid acquisition of next-generation assets.
  • Investments from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will further accelerate capability delivery, ensuring the Coast Guard remains the world’s most agile, capable, and responsive maritime fighting force.

These historic accomplishments are further illustrated in the Force Design 2028 Initial Update, which the Coast Guard released on January 15.

The report details the reforms the service has implemented under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, and it highlights the significant, measurable impacts these changes have delivered for the American people—including the historic 6-to-1 return on investment these efforts provided to the taxpayer.

Improved Federal Law Enforcement Training

Thanks to President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and Secretary Noem’s vision, the American people provided Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) with $750 million in taxpayer funding, more than doubling its annual resources, to enhance the training and readiness of U.S. Border Patrol, CBP, and ICE personnel.

As a result, FLETC provided federal law enforcement with the skills, leadership, and training necessary to tackle the threats of tomorrow and to keep the peace.

President Trump’s first year in office saw FLETC focus on:

• Expanding nationwide law enforcement collaboration by facilitating ICE’s 287(g) Training Program.
  • To date, approximately 18,500 officers across 50 states and five territories have registered and over 12,500 have completed the training, strengthening partnerships between federal and local law enforcement agencies.
• Training over 73,000 law enforcement personnel, the second highest number in FLETC’s 55-year history.
  • That includes thousands of personnel from state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement personnel from 51 states and five territories.
• FLETC achieved record-breaking training—the highest attendance levels since 2007—by supporting over 1,000 USBP trainees daily at FLETC in Artesia, New Mexico, and demonstrating a commitment to scaling operations to meet growing security demands.
• Producing America’s frontline during the 43-day lapse in appropriations – the longest in United States history – sustaining the safety and security of the nation at a time when uninterrupted law enforcement capability was essential.
• Enhancing maritime training by developing and piloting the U.S. Coast Guard Opposing Force Vessel Program.

Now, FLETC projects to train approximately 90,000 law enforcement personnel over the course of President Trump’s second year in office, fulfilling the operational requirements and expectations of our training partners within DHS and across other federal agencies.

Ushering in the Golden Age of Travel

The Transportation Security Administration is ushering in the Golden Age of Travel and will continue to thrive in President Trump’s second year.

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 7 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.
• TSA screened a record 3.1 million individuals screened on November 30.
• 8 of TSA’s 10 highest screening days were in 2025.
• 2.5 billion checked and carry-on bags screened in President Trump’s first year.

Fixing Federal Disaster Response

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.

As a result, FEMA has achieved:

• Radical Transparency and Contract Management FEMA’s rigorous contract reviews led to the termination of 118 contracts, generating $31.2 million in savings and $82 million in total cost avoidance, ensuring mission alignment and cost-effectiveness.
• Historic Recovery of Excess Funds FEMA recovered $8 billion in excess funds—the largest in agency history—rechanneling resources into high-priority operations and setting a new standard for fiscal responsibility.
• Fraud Prevention and Investigations FEMA conducted 2,092 fraud investigations, safeguarding up to $1.2 billion from external fraud and identifying 27 internal cases totaling $250,000, protecting taxpayer resources and disaster assistance funds.
• Accelerated State-Led Recovery Funding FEMA expedited 106 Public Assistance projects across 9 states, delivering $762 million in upfront funding—empowering states to lead and streamline their own recovery.
• Record Disaster Assistance to Communities and Individuals FEMA approved nearly $2.2 billion in Individual Assistance to households and obligated $15.3 billion in Public Assistance for communities and critical infrastructure, ensuring resources reach those most in need.
• Modernized Survivor Assistance Tools FEMA improved the disaster assistance process by launching new digital tools—including an application status tracker, clearer help text, guided videos, simplified letters, and expanded payment options. The digitized payment system accelerated delivery of assistance from 2–3 weeks to 1–2 days.

In President Trump’s second year, FEMA will empower states to lead disaster response and recovery while ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Continued improvement will strengthen local resilience when natural disasters strike, and deliver efficient, accountable support to communities across the nation to protect the American people when its needed most.

Bringing Back “The Best of the Best” to the Secret Service

President Trump and Secretary Noem made it a priority to restore the American people’s confidence in the Secret Service by demanding excellence from the Secret Service, recruiting the best of the best, and giving them the training necessary to carry out their mission.

As a result of that focus, which led to a roughly 46% increase in applications compared to the year before. From January 20 to December 18, 2025, the U.S. Secret Service received 91,273 applications, versus 62,160 applications during the same period in 2024.

Likewise, the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center delivered the highest number of trainings and briefings in the agency’s history - more than 364 trainings and briefings to more than 56,713 participants. NTAC training recipients included law enforcement agencies, schools, mental health providers, faith-based organizations, government agencies, and private sector entities.

Time and time again, the Secret Service made sure our nation’s biggest sports and cultural events were safe and secure.

In President Trump’s first year in office, the 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.
• 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).
• Completed 22 anti-card skimming and electronic benefits transfer fraud outreach operations in various locations around the United States. These outreach operations prevented an estimated $428 million in fraud loss.

In President Trump’s second year, the U.S. Secret Service will expand its electronic benefits transfer fraud outreach operations around the country, beginning with a 10-day, five city operation this winter. 

The Service will continue to aggressively recruit and hire the best of the best in order to meet our goal of hiring 4,000 new employees by 2028, for a total of 6,800 law enforcement personnel and 10,000 total employees on board by the end of President Trump’s first year.

And it will design and execute security plans for multiple National Special Security events:

2025 State of the Union, UN General Assembly, G20 Summit, and support security efforts for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Restoring American Air Superiority

On January 12, DHS announced the launch of a new office dedicated to rapidly procuring and deploying drone and counter-drone technologies, marking a major step forward in restoring American airspace sovereignty – a top priority for the Trump administration.

Drones are transforming industries nationwide, but they are also increasingly exploited by malicious actors. The new DHS Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems will oversee strategic investments in drone and counter-drone technologies that can outpace evolving threats and tactics.

The Program Executive Office has already begun its work and will soon finalize a $115 million investment in counter-drone technologies that will be critical in securing America250 and 2026 FIFA World Cup venues, underscoring the historic responsibility of protecting events that commemorate 250 years of American independence and welcome the world for the largest World Cup in history.

President Trump has championed the protection of the country from drone threats, initially signing the law in 2018 that gave DHS Components the authority to detect and mitigate drones. Since then, the Department has conducted over 1,500 missions to protect the United States from illicit drone activities.

The new Program Executive Office will be taking the threat of hostile drones head-on and innovating ways drones can keep us safe from other threats on the ground, equipping the Department with the technology and expertise we need to keep us Americans safe.

Restoring Cyber Security

Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, CISA returned back to its mission and remains steadfast in safeguarding the systems Americans rely on every day in the first year.

In year two, as our nation commemorates America’s 250th anniversary and global communities come together for the FIFA World Cup, CISA has released a new guide to empower stadium and arena owners to fortify operations, mitigate vulnerabilities, and elevate emergency preparedness.

The agency also issued three guides to help venue owners and law enforcement safeguard against risks from drones near their events and continues to support pre-World Cup 2026 exercises in host cities around the country.

Already in 2026, CISA started off the new year by retiring ten Emergency Directives, marking a significant milestone in federal cybersecurity. This is the highest number of Emergency Directives retired, after CISA determined that required actions have been successfully implemented or are now encompassed elsewhere.

CISA has co-sealed 38 joint cybersecurity advisories that continually demonstrate operational collaboration in action. By sharing timely, actionable threat intelligence and driving resilience, we help ensure our collective security.

Protecting Americans from Weapons of Mass Destruction

In its first year under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office protected Americans throughout the country from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats.

CWMD conducted a total of 1,020 operations, engagements, trainings, and exercises across 48 states and territories, including operations to protect high-profile events, including the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, and the Club World Cup.

In the coming year, CWMD will deploy to protect the FIFA World Cup across eleven host cities, the largest deployment in CWMD history, as well as other major events like America 250.

Maximizing Intelligence & Analytics to Keep Americans Safe

President Trump and Secretary Noem are using DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis like never before to coordinate a robust defense of the Homeland.

In 2025, the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) nominated over 4,600 people to the terrorist watchlist in 2025, working with DHS components, federal partners, and state and local law enforcement to ensure the Worst of the Worst are removed from America’s communities.

• Last year, following encounters with CBP at various ports of entry, I&A successfully discovered derogatory information on 80 percent of the devices encountered from persons of interest seeking entry into the U.S.
• This includes Rasha Alawieh, the Lebanese doctor and assistant professor at Brown University who attended Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral.
• I&A discovered that Alawieh had numerous contacts with known or suspected terrorists, affirming CBP’s decision to deny entry and the State Department’s decision to revoke her visa.
• In coordination with fusion center partners, I&A identified and watchlisted Rawy Javier Mogolon Morillo—one of the first known members of the gang Tren de Aragua in Orange County, California.
• As a result, the Homeland Security Task Force arrested this cartel associate on September 15, 2025.

Increasing Transparency, Direct Communication to the Public

President Trump and Secretary Noem understand have worked to provide historic levels of transparency and open communication to the American people U.S. citizens.

To that extent, DHS’s Office of Public Affairs delivered timely, accurate, and accessible information to the American through traditional media and social media.

In President Trump’s first year, OPA sent nearly 650 press releases and released more than 2,550 press statements to thousands of press inquiries.

 OPA also harnessed the power of social media to speak directly to the American people without legacy media’s bias and fake news getting in the way.

On X alone, @DHSGov made a whopping 1.9 billion impressions in President Trump’s first term. @Sec_Noearm earned more than half a billion with 527.4 million. On Facebook and Instagram, Secretary Noem’s official account had more than 83 million views combined. DHS’ official Facebook and Instagram account had 716.8 million views combined

In President Trump’s first year, 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.  

The Best Is Yet to Come

These accomplishments helped usher in a historic first year in President Trump’s return to office. The work, however, is just getting started. Under Secretary Noem’s guidance, vision, and leadership, DHS will continue to deliver monumental victories to the American people.