Republicans Tout Border Success Under Trump, Credit ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., led a delegation of Republican senators and GOP candidates to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, arguing that President Donald J. Trump’s signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has fundamentally reversed the border crisis—and that voters should reward Republicans for delivering results in November’s midterm elections.
Standing alongside Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez, and several Republican challengers, Thune said the relative calm now visible along the Texas border reflects what happens when Washington empowers law enforcement rather than undermining it.
“A year ago, President Trump hadn’t even been sworn in yet. We were still suffering,” Thune said. “The American people were under the Biden open border policies.”
Thune, who played a central role in steering the sweeping border security and anti-fraud legislation through Congress last spring, warned that the progress achieved under President Trump’s second-term agenda will only last if Republicans retain—and expand—their congressional majorities.
“One of the things that’s really important to maintaining the progress that’s been made here at the southern border is for us to protect and preserve our majority in the United States Senate,” he said. “Hopefully even expand upon it — and to make sure that we maintain that majority in the House of Representatives.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a cornerstone of Trump’s border strategy, combined funding for border wall construction, increased manpower for enforcement agencies, and expanded deportation authority with enhanced verification and anti-fraud safeguards for federal assistance programs. The law also tightened requirements for state and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Cornyn said Texas has seen tangible benefits from the legislation, receiving roughly $11 billion in border-related reimbursements—“compared to nothing under President Biden.”
“Texas carried the burden for years,” Cornyn said. “Now, under President Trump, we finally have a partner in Washington who’s willing to secure this border and back our law enforcement.”
Perez credited President Trump and congressional Republicans with what he described as a dramatic turnaround following years of unchecked illegal immigration.
“From day one, President Trump took the handcuffs off the Border Patrol agents and allowed them to do their jobs,” Perez said. “Under the Biden administration, millions of people crossed the border illegally. They were unvetted and released into this country. The Biden administration not only encouraged it — they facilitated it.”
According to Perez, passage of the GOP-led law has restored morale among Border Patrol agents. “This administration and this Congress actually listen,” he said. “We finally have the funding, the support, and the mandate to protect this country like it’s never been protected before.”
Republican lawmakers attending the border visit said the transformation along the southern frontier—now marked by record deportations and the lowest rate of illegal crossings in a decade—should be central to the GOP’s midterm messaging.
“The American people wanted results,” Thune said. “President Trump delivered those results.”
Still, Thune acknowledged that the effects of prior policies will take time to fully undo. “We still have to clean up the mess,” he said.
Asked by The Washington Times whether Republicans would consider legislation penalizing states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, Thune said the option remains on the table.
“I think it’s always a real possibility if you’ve got local officials who are circumventing or flouting federal law,” he said. “There are ways, obviously, through the power of the purse and resources that every state benefits enormously from with federal funding coming into their state. I’m sure there are things you could look at.”
Thune also pointed to growing interest in strengthening identity verification tied to federal programs. “You could see legislation to ensure that people benefiting from federal programs are who they say they are,” he said. “There have been a lot of conversations around biometric testing or confirming IDs in some way — making sure these programs aren’t being gamed and abused by individuals, groups, or even entire states.”