After nonsensically claiming that Border Patrol endorsed his bid for the presidency, President Joe Biden lied during his first 2024 debate against former President Donald Trump that crossings along the southern border are down 40% since his successor left office. In reality, Border Patrol recorded just 78,000 crossings along the southern border when Biden took office in January 2021, compared to more than 170,000 last month. All in all, border crossings have more than doubled since the start of Biden’s presidency.

The unions representing Border Patrol agents twice endorsed Trump for the presidency, and for good reason. While Trump never did secure substantial funding from Congress for his 2016 promise of a physical wall along the southern border, two sets of diplomatic deals may have proven much more consequential. His “Remain in Mexico” deal forced asylum-seekers to remain south of American territory while our courts adjudicated their claims, and “safe third country” agreements with Northern Triangle allies held countries along the way to our southern border responsible for deporting migrants illicitly trying to “asylum shop.”

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Although Republicans and border experts warned that removing “Remain in Mexico” and the “safe third country” agreements would incite dangerous levels of migrant demand to our southern border, Biden was defiant, lying shortly after taking office that “nothing has changed” and that a migrant surge that soon followed was just a normal, seasonal pattern.

Three years later, border crossings are still up by nearly 118%.