
CNN host Dana Bash acknowledged Thursday that President Donald Trump has reversed conditions at the U.S.-Mexico border during his first year back in the White House, citing data showing a sharp contrast between border activity under the Trump administration and the prior Biden-Harris administration.
During a segment discussing immigration policy, Bash referenced internal CNN charts comparing border activity under the two administrations and credited Trump with delivering results he campaigned on.
“One of the things that you — many things that you’ve been covering in a very detailed way this year, Zolan, is what’s going on with immigration,” Bash told CNN political analyst Zolan Kanno-Youngs.
“And our producer, Tess, put together a fantastic illustration of the difference in what’s happening in the border now versus what happened just in the year beforehand, which was Joe Biden’s presidency. Joe Biden’s presidency is green and Donald Trump’s is the yellow.”
Bash said the contrast reflected a measurable shift in outcomes following Trump’s return to office.
“I mean, that tells a story of an accomplishment for the president, one that he definitely ran on,” Bash said.
“He definitely made a promise there, and yet there hasn’t been a lot of focus on that because of what he has been doing in the interior of the country, which he also promised to do, which is apprehend people who are in the United States illegally and deport them.”
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After taking office, Trump signed multiple executive orders aimed at reversing border policies enacted under the Biden-Harris administration.
Those orders included formally designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations.
The administration said the designations were intended to strengthen enforcement tools against transnational criminal organizations operating across the southern border.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported millions of encounters with illegal aliens at the southern border.
Federal data showed that large numbers of those encountered were released into the United States while awaiting immigration proceedings.
By contrast, the Trump administration reported in a December 15 release that no illegal aliens had been released into the United States for seven consecutive months.
The announcement marked a central claim by the administration that border enforcement policies had shifted from release-based processing to detention and removal.
The Department of Homeland Security also released new figures in December detailing the scope of departures from the country during Trump’s first year back in office.
In a December 10 release, DHS announced that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens had left the United States.
According to the department, approximately 1.9 million of those individuals elected to self-deport.
DHS followed with a broader year-end operational summary on December 19.
The release stated that the department had accounted for more than 129,000 unaccompanied minors whom the Biden-Harris administration had previously been unable to locate.
The report also highlighted enforcement operations conducted across multiple major U.S. cities.
According to DHS, enforcement activity during the year included operations in Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.
The department said those efforts focused on identifying and removing illegal aliens with criminal records and those subject to final removal orders.
Bash’s remarks marked a notable moment on CNN, where immigration coverage has frequently centered on criticism of Trump’s policies.
Her acknowledgment came as the network reviewed comparative data showing shifts in border activity since Trump’s return to office.
The administration has repeatedly pointed to the decline in releases, the increase in removals, and expanded interior enforcement as evidence that campaign promises on border security were fulfilled.
Officials have also emphasized the role of executive authority in rapidly reversing policies implemented under Biden.
The data cited during the CNN segment reflects one of the clearest statistical contrasts between the two administrations, particularly in how illegal aliens encountered at the border are processed and whether they are released into the country.
As immigration remains a central national issue, the Trump administration has continued to frame border enforcement as both a security and rule-of-law priority, while DHS reports indicate sustained operations nationwide aimed at maintaining the policy shift implemented during Trump’s first year back in office.
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