Last month, the Trump administration marked a full year of zero releases at our country’s southern border. Finally, the era of catch-and-release for illegal border crossers into the U.S. has ended.

That is a stark departure from the chaos and crisis we watched play out there month after month during the Biden administration.

In fact, the U.S. Border Patrol’s apprehensions along our southwest border in April were 94 percent lower compared to the monthly average of the last administration, and 96 percent lower than the peak in December 2023.

Despite years of excuses about how border security could only be achieved with the passage of new immigration laws, Congress and President Trump worked quickly to dispel that myth and prove that it simply required the will to enforce our existing laws and provide whatever resources necessary for that endeavor.

Passage of the Working Families Tax Cuts, which included billions of dollars for border security efforts such as barriers, equipment and technology, personnel, facility improvements and more, was an important factor. The administration also made border security a top priority and implemented policies to deter illegal immigration and regain operational control that had long been abandoned under previous administrations.

The results are clear: this is now the most secure border in our nation’s history.

That commonsense goal is something that should get bipartisan support, because border security is national security. Protecting Americans from criminal illegal immigrants is vital, yet it requires cooperation between states and the federal government.

Regrettably, my Democratic colleagues have obstructed these efforts at every turn, which is why Republicans in Congress have had to work overtime to achieve that outcome.

While we passed 11 of the 12 Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bills with bipartisan votes, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was shut down for months because our colleagues refused to find common ground with Republicans on Capitol Hill and the White House. When we finally struck an agreement to reopen DHS, it only advanced without full-year budgets for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Being willing to fund the mission to defend our communities and country from criminal illegal immigrants, potential terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking should not depend on which side of the aisle you are on. Yet that is exactly what happened as Senate Democrats abandoned the regular appropriations process and good-faith negotiations on reforms to immigration enforcement practices in order to score political points.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) even went as far as to say that nobody in the country respects our border patrol and immigration agents. He could not be more wrong.

Senate Republicans stand with the men and women working non-stop to secure our border, enforce the law and protect Americans from the threats that result from reckless open-border policies. I was proud to vote for the Secure America Act, which also passed the House and has been signed into law, to ensure funding for Border Patrol and immigration enforcement activity cannot be held hostage again during the Trump administration. This law provides funding to fully resource that work so our personnel can solely focus on providing these critical services.

I am hopeful that bipartisan cooperation on national security issues will resume for the safety of Arkansans and all Americans. It is too important to risk.