Securing America's Borders

By Todd Bensman as published April 1, 2025 by The Daily Wire AUSTIN, Texas – It’s early but not too early to note that President Donald Trump’s all-out World War on cross-border smuggling into the United States of fentanyl, the highly lethal synthetic opiate responsible for 120,000 American overdose deaths in recent years, is achieving remarkable impacts for the first time in a decade. A … [Read more...] about First Good Battlefield News From Trump’s Global War on Fentanyl

A new Center for Immigration Studies video report provides exclusive footage from the El Paso sector of the U.S. southern border, highlighting a newly constructed road that is enhancing border security. Todd Bensman, the Center’s national security fellow, joins Border Patrol agents to examine Bulldozer Trail, a critical new road cutting through previously inaccessible, rugged terrain. … [Read more...] about VIDEO: Bulldozer Trail: Border Patrol’s New Anti-smuggling Road

By Todd Bensman as published March 20, 2025 by The Daily Wire JUAREZ, Mexico – “Hit the gas!” I barked at my translator behind the wheel of our rental car. “Let’s get the f*** out of here!” We tore off, leaving the reflections of two cartel gunmen, a shiny handgun in the waistband on one, shrinking in our rearview mirror. The confrontation happened one year ago on the Juarez, Mexico side of … [Read more...] about The Daily Wire: Even the “Got-aways” – the Most Dangerous Immigrant Traffic – Are Sharply Down at New Trump Border

Summary Fieldwork undertaken by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals a border now under control, offering clear evidence that the border crisis was never an unstoppable force but rather the result of policy decisions. Last week the Center sent analysts to the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector and across the border to Tijuana, and to the El Paso Sector and across the border to Juarez. … [Read more...] about U.S.-Mexico Border Transformed Under Trump’s Policies, Bensman discusses recent border trip on Parsing Immigration Policy podcast

The Center for Immigration Studies' national security fellow, Todd Bensman, documents that Texas has shifted troopers and other state police personnel from its $11 billion "Operation Lone Star" off of the 1,254 miles of the Rio Grande River for the first time in four years. This move comes as illegal border crossings reach historic lows under President Donald Trump's new policies. Texas … [Read more...] about VIDEO REPORT: With Border Crisis Over, Texas Redeploys ‘Operation Lone Star’ Forces From Rio Grande

The move is a vote of confidence that the Biden mass migration crisis really is over: SEE VIDEO REPORT By Todd Bensman as published March 17, 2025 by the Center for Immigration Studies. A modified version of this report appeared in the March 16, 2025 editions of The New York Post After four years and more than $11 billion spent battling the worst mass migration border crisis in U.S. … [Read more...] about A Border ‘Peace Dividend’: Texas ‘Operation Lone Star’ Shifts Police Off the Rio Grande

Most of the Venezuelans who illegally crossed the U.S. southern border were living in 20 other peaceful countries for years beforehand. By Todd Bensman as published March 11, 2025 by The Federalist The agreement that President Donald Trump in January foisted on leftist Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro to accept thousands of Venezuelan air deportees is teetering. Maduro is mad … [Read more...] about Trump Doesn’t Need Maduro’s Cooperation To Deport Venezuelan Migrants

Neither the border nor the “immigration system” were ever “broken. By Todd Bensman as published March 5, 2025 by The Daily Wire AUSTIN, Texas – Following Donald Trump’s inauguration, it took his new administration all of an hour to bring the greatest mass migration border crisis in American history to a shuddering halt, with the first full month of apprehension numbers in February … [Read more...] about How Trump’s Suddenly Secure Border Forever Debunks Dem Immigration Theories

Parsing Immigration Policy, Episode 193 By Todd Bensman and Jaeson Jones on February 27, 2025 Summary The latest episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast series features guest host Senior National Security Fellow Todd Bensman in conversation with Jaeson Jones, a leading expert on Mexican cartels and a border correspondent. This timely discussion highlights the recent … [Read more...] about Bensman Guest Hosts Podcast: Interviews Jaeson Jones on ‘Implications of Labeling Cartels as Terrorist Groups’

By Todd Bensman as published February 20, 2025 by the Center for Immigration Studies A former state police officer in Brazil arrested and charged in Brazil for taking part in the murder of 11 teenagers but who still got into the United States on a tourist visa and stayed for years is the latest addition to the Center for Immigration Studies National Security Vetting Failures Database. The entry … [Read more...] about Brazilian Who Committed Mass Murder Thrice Slipped National Security Vetting Added to CIS Database