Jamie Dimon has some advice for incoming President Trump.
Win McNamee
Jamie Dimon urges incoming president Donald Trump to prioritize immigration policy in his second term.
Trump has said he plans to conduct mass deportation in his second term.
Dimon also advocates for education reform and doubling the earned income tax credit.
With Donald Trump set to take office in about a week, top Wall Street leaders are coming forward with advice.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon honed in on immigration policy when asked what advice he'd give Trump for his second presidential term in a CBS News interview posted Sunday. "Get immigration, border security right," he said. "Then proper immigration after that."
Since his debut on the political stage, Trump has been outspoken about immigration policy. On the campaign trail last year Trump said he would carry out the "largest domestic deportation in American history." He also plans to end birthright citizenship, build new ICE detention centers, and reinstate his first-term policies. During his first term in office, he curtailed legal immigration rates, signed an executive order that suspended several types of work visas, including H-1B visas, which are crucial for the tech industry, and completed hundreds of miles of construction on a border wall between the US and Mexico.
Dimon says he agrees with Trump's big-picture view on immigration. "You could talk about specifics and disagree, but the concern around border security, obviously, every country in the world is concerned about that," he said.
Beyond immigration, Dimon says he wants to see changes to our education system. "I would love to see high schools, community colleges, and colleges measured on what is the outcome of the kid being educated. Like do they get a job that's well paying, not do they do math well," he said. "I believe that would put a lot more pressure on schools to teach skills that can give you really good paying jobs." That includes jobs in fields like data analytics, manufacturing, nursing, compliance, and financial skills, he said.
He's also in favor of eliminating tax breaks, even for the wealthy. He proposed doubling the earned income tax credit: a refundable tax credit for low to moderate-income workers, particularly those with children. "That alone would put a lot more money into the pockets of people who are working who are lower income, it would go into their communities, into their families," he said.
Police in the Mexican state of Chihuahua believe that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua may be behind the murder of a Mexican immigration official just south of the U.S. border.
The Mexican immigration agent, Luis Alberto Olivas, was pushed down a hill and stoned to death by two Venezuelan migrants identified as David J.V. and Carlos Arichuna S.M. on Dec. 30. The murder took place by a military checkpoint close to Ciudad Juárez, just south of El Paso, Texas.
According to Border Report, Mexican authorities believe that at least one of the Venezuelans is suspected of being a member of Tren de Aragua (TdA), which is a transnational criminal organization that facilitates much of the drug and human trafficking in the area.
Chihuahua Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya told Border Report that one of the alleged killers "has the tattoos that we have identified as probably linked to Tren de Aragua" and that police have shared this information with other agencies and are "waiting for the next binational meeting to have it checked in [American] databases."
The tattoo in question depicts an owl, a symbol that according to Mexican investigative journalist Luis Chaparro is "often found on Tren de Aragua members" and often indicates a human smuggler "guide."
According to local news source "El Diario MX," the two possible Tren de Aragua members threw stones at Olivas’ chest, pushed him, causing him to fall six meters down a hill, and then smashed his head with a large stone, killing him.
TdA has been active on the U.S. southern border in recent weeks. On Dec. 31, the Texas Department of Public Safety caught four confirmed TdA members trying to sneak into the U.S illegally.
The individuals were identified as Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18. Ocando-Mejia had tattoos on his shoulders indicating he may hold rank or leadership within the gang.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has led many efforts to secure the border and clamp down on TdA, responded to the arrests by saying: "Our top priority is the safety and security of Texans, including against the growing threat of Tren de Aragua."
During a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump renewed his criticisms of the Biden administration for selling off border wall materials at "five cents on the dollar," saying: "These people either hate our country or they’re stupid."
He also slammed the private company managing the border wall sales for attempting to sell the materials back to his incoming administration at a significant upcharge.
"You know what they were doing. They were calling us up and saying: ‘We'll sell it back to you at 200 cents.’ In other words, double what we paid for it," he said. "So, they were going to buy it from this guy [President Joe Biden] for five cents on the dollar. They were making deals."
The Biden administration has been auctioning off border wall parts since at least 2023, with parts listed for sale on auction marketplaces, after it abruptly shut down most border wall construction in 2021.
An official at the Department of Defense told Fox News Digital in December that the materials being sold through online auctions were already sold off by the federal government earlier in 2024, with a large percentage of the materials being sold to a government surplus retailer called Gov Planet.
Speaking in December, Trump said the Biden administration’s border wall sales were "almost a criminal act" that would cost American taxpayers "hundreds of millions of dollars."
Trump said on Tuesday the private retailer was "calling us, asking us to pay them 200 cents because it's a good deal because we can have it immediately."
But to this, Trump said: "You know what ‘immediately’ is? Just leave it in place."
"Fortunately, we had a very smart judge that stopped it cold," he went on. "But think of it. They were selling the wall. That was exactly the wall that the Border Patrol wanted that was designed by them: steel, concrete, rebar… Everything was top of the line, very expensive. It would be double what we paid for it then, six years ago."
Speaking of the Biden administration, Trump said: "These people either hate our country or they’re very stupid."
"They were selling the wall for five cents on the dollar and trying to resell it back to us for 200 cents, or less, but for 200 cents on the dollar." he said. "That deal is like all the other things that these people do."
President-elect Trump filed an amicus brief late Thursday in support of a legal effort by Texas and Missouri to "immediately" stop the Biden administration’s sale of border wall materials, saying the action is "possibly criminal."
Texas and Missouri filed a motion earlier this week in a district court in the southern district of Texas to hold a status conference to determine if the government is in breach of the court’s permanent injunction from earlier this year. That injunction barred the Biden administration from using funds obligated for wall construction for anything other than that purpose.
"The Court should issue an order directing the Defendants to immediately stop any ongoing sale of border-barrier materials to private parties pending the Court’s review of Defendant’s conduct, and the Court should swiftly conduct a searching examination of the Government’s conduct, by formal discovery if necessary, to examine the Government’s compliance with the law, the Constitution, and the Court’s injunction," Trump’s amicus brief states.
The Biden administration has been auctioning off border wall parts since at least 2023, with parts listed for sale on auction marketplaces, after it abruptly shut down most border wall construction in 2021.
Those auctions have continued, with border officials telling Fox that auctions now occur weekly and have been for some time. However, the practice made news last week, when The Daily Wire published video showing parts being transported and cited Border Patrol agents who said the goal was to clear them out before Christmas.
Trump’s amicus brief states that if officials in the Biden administration are "deliberately selling off border-wall materials at a major financial loss to the Government to obstruct the pro-wall policy of Congress and President Trump, such conduct likely constitutes a criminal act, such as a conspiracy to defraud the United States."
"At the very least, the reported conduct raises troubling concerns of potentially criminal behavior," the filing states.
A Defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the Defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.
The official said border states, including Texas, were first offered that material for purchase before auction. The official also said the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.
"Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California," the official said. "The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
However, those statements have not stopped the outrage from Republicans, who see the auctions as a move to stop the Trump administration from building the wall. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced legislation this week to put a halt to the auctions.
Trump, meanwhile, said on Monday he had been working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others to acquire the materials.
"What they're doing is really an act, it's almost a criminal act," he said. "They know we're going to use it, and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it'll cost double what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of, a lot of wall."
Paxton said in a statement that Texas is going to court to "prevent any border security materials from being unlawfully sold and to find out the truth about what the federal government may be doing to subvert border wall construction."
"President Trump has an overwhelming mandate from the American people to build the wall and I will do everything in my power to prevent any acts of sabotage by the outgoing administration," he said.
Texas has said it intends to do all it can to help the incoming administration build the wall at the southern border when Trump enters office.
"The Biden Administration's latest attempt to block Texas and President-Elect Donald Trump's efforts to secure the southern border is downright shameful and demonstrates a continued pattern of disregard for the safety of Texas and American families in favor of increasingly disastrous open border policies," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Officials said this week they intend to purchase the auctioned off materials, and Buckingham said she intends to store it on state land for the new administration.
"I made a promise to use every tool at my disposal from the GLO to secure our border and protect Texans," Buckingham said in the statement to Fox. "That is why I have offered state leaders and President-elect Donald Trump the opportunity to store any wall panels his incoming administration may acquire on state land. I will never give up the fight to secure our porous southern border and protect our sons and daughters from violent, criminal illegal immigrants."
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new billboard campaign on Thursday to warn potential illegal immigrants about the "horrific" reality of human trafficking, violence and danger facing them if they attempt to illegally enter the U.S.
Abbott said the state is placing dozens of billboards with warnings in several languages throughout Mexico and Central America.
"We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the traffickers who assault so many of the women and children along the way," the governor said. "The message is: Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported."
Abbott, who recently made another trip to the border with the incoming border czar, Tom Homan, also emphasized that the new Trump administration will "prioritize for deportation illegal immigrants who have been arrested."
Billboards will be written in Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic, and will be placed along migrant travel routes.
The governor made his announcement at a ranch on the southern border. He was standing by a burned "rape tree," where property owners have said migrant women were routinely raped. Abbott said the billboards "tell the horror stories of human trafficking" and "inform potential illegal immigrants about the reality of what will happen to them if they try to enter Texas illegally."
One billboard written in Spanish depicts a little girl and simply asks: "How much did you pay to have your daughter raped?"
Another depicts a pregnant woman and says: "Your wife and daughter will pay for their trip with their bodies."
Abbott criticized governments and private groups who "make it sound like it may be harmless going into the state of Texas," and said the state is trying to "provide reality facts for immigrants thinking about coming here to save their lives, to save them from sexual assault, save them from being arrested and let them know there are consequences if they take any further steps to come to the state of Texas."
"This is tough medicine, but we want no more rape trees in Texas," said Abbott. "Do not make the dangerous trek to Texas."
The governor went on to lament the historic surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration, saying: "It's a deadly situation, a horrific situation, a horror that we fully expect to end beginning in about a month when President Trump takes office and shuts down the border and restores safety and normalcy to the immigration process."
FIRST ON FOX: A top Texas official is slamming what she says is the "downright shameful" auctioning off of border wall materials as the state asks a district court to investigate whether the Biden administration has violated a court order.
"The Biden Administration's latest attempt to block Texas and President-Elect Donald Trump's efforts to secure the southern border is downright shameful and demonstrates a continued pattern of disregard for the safety of Texas and American families in favor of increasingly disastrous open border policies," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Buckingham’s office, along with the states of Texas and Missouri filed a motion late Tuesday in a district court in the southern district of Texas to hold a status conference to determine if the government is in breach of the court’s permanent injunction from earlier this year. That injunction barred the administration from using funds obligated for wall construction for anything other than that purpose.
The Biden administration has been auctioning off border wall parts since at least 2023 with parts listed for sale on auction marketplaces, after it abruptly shut down most border wall construction in 2021.
Those auctions have continued, with border officials telling Fox that auctions now occur weekly and have been for some time. But the practice made news last week when The Daily Wire published video showing parts being transported, and cited Border Patrol agents who said the goal was to clear it out before Christmas.
A defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.
The official said border states, including Texas, were first offered that material for purchase before auction. The official also said the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.
"Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California," the official said. "The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
However, those statements have not stopped the outrage from Republicans, who see the auctions as a move to stop the Trump administration building the wall. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., introduced legislation this week to stop ther practice.
President-elect Trump, meanwhile, said on Monday he had been working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others to acquire the materials.
"What they're doing is really an act, it's almost a criminal act," he said. "They know we're going to use it, and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it'll cost double what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of, a lot of wall."
Paxton said in a statement that Texas is going to court to "prevent any border security materials from being unlawfully sold and to find out the truth about what the federal government may be doing to subvert border wall construction."
"President Trump has an overwhelming mandate from the American people to build the wall and I will do everything in my power to prevent any acts of sabotage by the outgoing administration," he said.
Texas has said it intends to do all it can to help the incoming administration build the wall at the southern border when it enters office. Officials said this week they intend to purchase the auctioned off materials, and Buckingham said she intends to store it on state land for the new administration.
"I made a promise to use every tool at my disposal from the GLO to secure our border and protect Texans," Buckingham said in the statement to Fox. "That is why I have offered state leaders and President-Elect Donald Trump the opportunity to store any wall panels his incoming administration may acquire on state land. I will never give up the fight to secure our porous southern border and protect our sons and daughters from violent, criminal illegal immigrants."
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican senator is introducing legislation to block the federal government from disposing of border wall materials after a controversy over the auctioning of border wall parts made headlines again.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., is introducing legislation to prohibit the use of federal funds "to deconstruct, dismantle, or otherwise render inoperable any segment of the physical barrier along the international border between the United States and Mexico."
The bill would also bar the use of funds "to auction, sell, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any materials or supplies purchased or otherwise acquired by the Federal Government for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, or reinforcing a physical barrier along such border."
The bill comes in response to the ongoing controversy over the auctioning of border wall materials by the Biden administration.
The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after 450 miles had been built during the first Trump administration.
The auctioning of border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department's logistics agency told media outlets the excess material had been turned over for disposition by the Army Corps of Engineers and was for sale.
Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that auctions have been occurring weekly for some time. The practice made headlines last week when The Daily Wire published video showing unused wall parts being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona even though the materials could be used by the next Trump administration.
A furious President-elect Trump called the moves "almost a criminal act" and called on President Biden to "please stop selling the wall."
The president-elect also said he is working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas leaders to reacquire the materials.
"What they're doing is really an act, it's almost a criminal act," he said. "They know we're going to use it, and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it. And it'll cost double what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of, a lot of wall."
A defense official told Fox News last week that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.
The official said that border states, including Texas, were given preference for materials and that the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, adding the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.
"Through our reutilization, transfer and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California," the official said. "The remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
Hagerty's bill would supersede any existing law, including the NDAA. His office says the NDAA provision was intended to encourage border wall construction.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump blasted the Biden administration for selling off unused border wall materials at a discounted rate, which he called "almost a criminal act."
Trump said the auctions would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to re-purchase the large steel bollards and concrete. He called on President Biden to "please stop selling the wall" and suggested his team would obtain a restraining order to halt the sales.
The president-elect also said he is working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas leaders to re-acquire the materials.
"What they're doing is really an act, it's almost a criminal act," he said. "They know we're going to use it and if we don't have it, we're going to have to rebuild it, and it'll cost double what it cost years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because you're talking about a lot of, a lot of wall."
This comes a week after videos released by the Daily Wire showed large portions of border wall materials being carted off from the border to be sold at auction. The Daily Wire reported that a whistleblower at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection claimed the administration’s goal was to sell off all the unused border wall materials along three stations of Arizona’s border with Mexico in Tucson, Nogales and Three Points by Christmas.
A representative for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Fox News Digital that construction and management of the border wall is handled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
An official at the Department of Defense told Fox News Digital that the materials currently being sold through online auctions were already sold off by the federal government earlier this year, with a large percentage of the materials being sold to a government surplus retailer called Gov Planet.
The Defense official said the materials no longer belong to the U.S. government, and the Defense Department has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of it.
Jonathan Lines, a Yuma County supervisor, told Fox News Digital that the equipment dealer Iron Planet has been partnering with the federal government to sell the materials over the last three years. He explained that though auctions for the pieces start at $5, they typically end up being sold for between $8,000 and $10,000.
Despite this, Lines pushed back on reports that the Biden administration is increasing its sales of border wall materials in attempts to get rid of the materials before the Trump inauguration, calling these "sensationalism."
"They sell it consistently, every week or every other week there are sections of the wall that go up for sale," he explained.
Border wall materials were listed by Gov Planet last week at $5 as the minimum opening bid for 20 tons of steel bollards on an online auction site that advertised multiple lots.
Trump, who has made government efficiency a top priority for his second administration, took particular issue with the financial waste of the auctions.
"The people that are buying it or trying to buy it are trying to make a deal with us to sell it back at hundreds of times more, hundreds of times more than we paid," he said. "Just think about how ridiculous it is, and this is just people that don't want this country to succeed. And this has nothing to do with Democrat or Republican, this has to do with common sense. We won on common sense, and this is maybe one of the most egregious examples I've seen."
"So, I'm asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall," he went on. "It's something that people can't even believe is happening. So, hopefully, Joe will be able to stop it."
Officials in Texas say they are preparing to buy and store border wall materials being auctioned off by the federal government and keep them in place until the Trump administration takes office in January.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick reacted to reports of continued auctions of border wall materials that have been left near the border after the sudden stop of border wall construction in 2021.
"I will bid on all of that wall, and we will buy it in Texas, and we will give it to Donald Trump," Patrick said on "The Ingraham Angle."
"I’ve got a billion dollars in my pocket to do it," he said.
His comments were supported by Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who said she is "fully prepared" to help in the effort.
"If you buy it, I have a place to store it — on state land! The [Texas General Land Office] is standing by to help!" she said, calling the auctioning off of border wall materials by the Biden administration "shameful."
The Biden administration abruptly ended border wall construction in January 2021 after 450 miles had been built in the first Trump administration. While border hawks say a wall is a critical tool to stopping illegal immigration, some Democrats have said a wall project is xenophobic and ineffective.
The auctioning off of border wall parts began in 2023 with parts listed for sale on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Defense Department's logistics agency told media outlets that the excess material had been turned over for disposition by the Army Corps of Engineers and was now for sale.
Those auctions have continued, with officials in Arizona telling Fox News Digital that auctions have been occurring weekly for some time. The practice drew attention last week when The Daily Wire published video showing unused wall parts being transported on flatbed trucks in Arizona, even though the materials could be used in the next Trump administration.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to restart border wall construction when he enters office next month. He described the selling off of the wall as "almost a criminal act" on Monday and appealed to the administration to stop the selling of the wall parts.
A defense official told Fox News that the Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the Defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March.
The official said that border states, including Texas, were given preference for materials. Both Texas and California requested and received border materials, they said.
"Through our reutilization, transfer, and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California," the official said. "The remaining 40% was sold to GOVPLANET under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GOVPLANET online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DoD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
Texas has already shown it is keen to aid the incoming administration in its efforts to secure the border and engage in a mass deportation campaign.
Fox News Digital first reported last month that Texas has offered 1,400 acres of land to the incoming administration with which to stage its mass deportation operation. Border czar Thomas Homan said he is already planning on how to use the land effectively.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is demanding that Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Lloyd Austin promise to keep all records as the Biden administration continues to sell southern border wall materials for low prices ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's second term.
"I write to demand full accountability and transparency from the Department of Defense about its role in the disposal of excess border wall materials from the first Trump administration," the senator said in a letter to Austin on Monday.
He acknowledged that President Biden was the one who decided "to halt the needed construction of the southwestern border wall," but added that he had questions about the DOD's role in the sale of materials.
It was reported by Fox News' William La Jeunesse that sections of wall were being sold "as scrap" and for just "pennies on the dollar."
According to a DOD official, Biden's administration has been disposing of excess border wall materials as was authorized by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The official said that about 60% of these materials have been given to authorized recipients such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Texas and California. They added that 40% was purchased by GOVPLANET, a marketplace that sells surplus government equipment and materials. The border wall materials that are available on the site are not currently owned by the government and the DOD doesn't have the authority to prevent any sales of them, the official said.
In his letter to Austin, Cotton told the secretary to provide a written assurance that the department would "preserve all electronic and written material related to the disposition of the border wall materials."
Additionally, he asked for a "full accounting" of how the border wall materials were disposed of as outlined in the NDAA.
And lastly, Cotton demanded a list of each company that materials were sold to.
"Thankfully, the egregious waste of taxpayer money and flaunting of urgent national security concerns will end on January 20, 2025, when President-elect Trump assumes office," the Arkansas Republican said. "Congress will use the records you are required by law to preserve to fully understand the Biden Department of Defense’s role in making our border less secure."
The DOD did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump pleaded with the Biden administration to halt their continued lame duck efforts to sell border wall materials. "It's almost a criminal act," the president-elect said.
"They know we're gonna use it," Trump explained, adding that it will cost more to get back.
He predicted it would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars more" to rebuild the wall portions.
FIRST ON FOX: A firebrand Republican lawmaker in Congress is demanding that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas preserve all information related to the border crisis that took place over the last four years as part of an ongoing records request.
"During your tenure as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, we have seen recordbreaking illegal alien encounters at our borders, millions of aliens released into the interior, scores of criminals and other bad actors infiltrating our communities, endangering Americans and aliens alike, and much more. It is imperative DHS preserve any and all information related to the border crisis and mass influx of aliens into the interior so the incoming Trump administration can deliver on its mandate to undo the damage done," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said in a letter to Mayorkas, obtained first by Fox News Digital.
Republicans have consistently complained that DHS has not been responsive to requests for information, a claim that DHS has denied – pointing to a slew of briefings, responses and hearing appearances that officials have given.
Roy says his office and others have received "at best – delayed and insufficient responses or – at worst – no response from your office at all."
"As such, I request that you take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction of all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information, that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry, including memoranda, numerical data, reports, letters, and subpoenas received by Congress surrounding border security and immigration policies of the Biden-Harris Administration from January 20, 2021, to the present," he writes.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said that DHS "has and will continue to respond to congressional correspondence directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond to congressional oversight."
"DHS follows the law with respect to retaining federal records and remains committed to doing so," the spokesperson said.
The letter comes as a political sea change on how to handle border security and illegal immigration is about to hit Washington, D.C. While the Biden administration has taken a number of hawkish moves at the border in recent months, including a presidential proclamation in June that drastically limited asylum, the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress are eyeing significant overhauls to how immigration and border security are handled.
Given the historic crisis at the border, which started in early 2021 and continued deep into 2024, Republicans have hammered the administration on the border crisis, with Roy being a key member in the impeachment of Mayorkas earlier this year – although that impeachment was not taken up by the Senate.
While the Trump administration will likely bring in sweeping changes at the border, Roy’s letter indicates there will be continued interest in how the Biden administration handled the crisis.
Roy’s letter requests that DHS preserves information, including the number of migrants released with court dates, their countries of origins, last known whereabouts, and similar information for those released into the U.S. under humanitarian parole and those allowed to stay under programs like Temporary Protected Status.
It also seeks information on how the controversial CBP One app – which allows for migrants to schedule appointments to be paroled into the U.S. – was being used. Information requested also includes those who are no longer able to be contacted, those released with criminal charges or convictions, those with gang affiliations, and those given protection under Temporary Protected Status.
Roy also wanted to see the number of visa overstays, those admitted with visas who are suspected of fraud, and the number of countries that are "recalcitrant" and who are not taking back illegal immigrants. He also wants to know the number of Chinese nationals released into the U.S. with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the names of organizations that have received DHS grants for caring for migrants and the number of worksite enforcement investigations conducted by ICE.
The letter is the latest sign that immigration, which was a political hot topic in 2024, will likely remain a top item for Congress as well as the administration in 2025. President-elect Trump has already appointed former ICE Director Thomas Homan as his border czar, and has nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be Mayorkas’ successor at DHS. Republicans are expected to push for additional legislation to aid in that operation. That push could take the form of HR 2, the Republican border bill that passed in the House in 2023, but has not been taken up by the Senate.
In the past couple of years the Texas National Guard and state authorities have placed over 100 miles of razor wire at some of the most critical migrant crossing points along the southern border. The state, which makes up over 60 percent of the U.S. border with Mexico, has spent well over $10 million erecting and maintaining these border barriers as part of its larger multi-billion-dollar border enforcement campaign "Operation Lonestar."
This week, a federal appeals court ruled against the Biden administration’s attempt to block Texas from continuing to place walls of razor wire – also called concertina or "c-wire" – along the border. This comes after U.S. Border Patrol agents under the Biden administration cut down Texas’ wire on a 26-mile stretch of the border in September 2023.
Earlier this year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said that "Biden should be thanking Texas, not obstructing our efforts to secure the border."
"Joe Biden completely abandoned his constitutional duty to secure the border. Texas stepped up in his absence to build the wall, repel illegal crossings, and protect our country," said Abbott.
But does razor wire really keep migrants from entering the country illegally, and is it worth the cost?
Andrew Arthur, a law and policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, says the answer is an emphatic "Yes."
He pointed to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that shows illegal migrant encounters in Texas’ five border sectors dropped by nearly two-thirds in January after the state finished placing wire.
Arthur told Fox News Digital that Texas began placing wire fortifications in May 2023 after the COVID-era measure Title 42 expired. Then, after the migrant surge in December, Texas deployed additional guard personnel, state troopers and resources to the border.
"Based on the numbers that we're looking at here, it is most definitely effective," he said.
"What the wire did from my reading of this is it shifted that flow west," he explained. "And that's important, because that's a much longer route. You're adding hundreds of miles to that smuggling journey."
While effective, razor wire is not without drawbacks. More than a traditional border wall, wire needs to be constantly monitored. It also requires regular upkeep and additional wire being laid down after old wire is damaged or destroyed.
"It's a temporary solution, because you're going to have to replace the concertina wire that they have and, at some point, they're not going to be able to keep sending wave after wave of troopers, because a lot of those guys are hundreds of miles from their homes, because Texas is a big state," he explained. "When I was embedded with a trooper down there, he was from Abilene, which is nowhere near the border, and he had been there for six weeks."
There are also humanitarian considerations.
Arthur said that by being an effective deterrent, razor wire protects migrants from attempting the dangerous crossing over the Rio Grande.
Meanwhile, Dylan Corbett, who runs an El Paso-based migrant aid and advocacy group called the Hope Border Institute, said that the presence of c-wire along the border has increased migrant injuries and deaths.
Corbett told Fox News Digital that doctors working with the Hope Border Institute have had to treat the wounds of families injured by the wire, as well as "wounds caused by projectiles fired by the National Guard."
"In El Paso, nearly our entire border has been fortified by layers of concertina wire, including part of our border with New Mexico," he explained. "While the numbers of border deaths along the whole border appear to have gone down over the past year, in El Paso they have increased. That increase has been sharp over the past couple years and coincides with the presence of the Guard and the concertina wire, because it is forcing border crossers just to the west of the city, where they die in the desert or crossing the river."
He called for the federal government to finally step in and "assert its supremacy over managing migration at the border and fix our overall system."
"More people are dying here than ever before," he said. "The longer we wait, states will continue to engage in uncoordinated and irresponsible enforcement actions on their own, unnecessarily putting lives at risk and needlessly diverting millions of dollars in taxpayer resources."
Texas could implement a plan to bus migrants directly to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an effort to get them processed for deportation, according to media reports.
The move would be a departure from the state's program, part of Operation Lone Star, that has bussed thousands of migrants to sanctuary cities, a source told the New York Post. It has yet to be approved by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Abbott's office and ICE.
"We are always going to be involved in border security so long as we’re a border state," a Texas government source told the newspaper. "We spent a lot of taxpayer money to have the level of deterrent that we have on the border, and we can’t just walk away."
Abbott has been especially aggressive in combating illegal immigration, bussing migrants to blue cities in an effort to bring attention to the border crisis. Under the proposed plan, buses chartered by Texas from border cities will be taken to federal detention centers to help ICE agents process migrants quickly, the Post reported.
Texas has been in a legal fight with the Biden administration over its efforts to curb illegal immigration. On Wednesday, an appeals court ruled that the state has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter migrants.
Officials have also offered land to the incoming Trump administration to build deportation centers to hold illegal immigrant criminals.
"My office has identified several of our properties and is standing by ready to make this happen on Day One of the Trump presidency," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said during a visit to the border Tuesday.
Authorities have also warned of unaccompanied migrant children being caught near the border. On Thursday, a 10-year-old boy from El Salvador told state troopers in Maverick County, Texas, that he had been lost and left behind by a human smuggler.
The boy was holding a cellphone and crying, Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez posted on X. The child said his parents were in the U.S.
On Sunday, troopers encountered an unaccompanied 2-year-old girl from El Salvador holding a piece of paper with a phone number and her name. She told authorities that her parents were also in the U.S.
That morning, state troopers also encountered a group of 211 illegal immigrants in Maverick County. Among the group were 60 unaccompanied children, ages 2 to 17, and six special interest immigrants from Mali and Angola.
"Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks," Olivarez wrote at the time. "With a record number of unaccompanied children and hundreds of thousands missing, there is no one ensuring the safety & security of these children except for the men & women who are on the frontlines daily."
He noted that the "reality is that many children are exploited & trafficked, never to be heard from again."
Around 1,500 migrants have formed a caravan in southern Mexico and hope to make it to the U.S. before President-elect Trump takes office in January, when he is expected to clamp down heavily on illegal crossings which have soared under the Biden-Harris administration.
The caravan, made up of men, women and young children mostly from Central and South America, on Wednesday traveled through the city of Tapachula, located in southern Mexico, just over the border from Guatemala where thousands of migrants are stranded because they do not have permission to cross further into Mexico.
The most southern point of the U.S. border is at the crossing at Matamoros, near Brownsville, Texas, and it would take a desperate adult migrant about 16 days of non-stop walking to get there. It is unclear exactly where members of this particular caravan they intend to cross.
Migrants for caravans because they believe there is safety in numbers as it is hard or impossible for immigration agents to detain large groups of hundreds of migrants.
Some are hoping to catch rides to help them on their journey, while others will make the arduous trip to the southern border by foot in the searing heat.
"It is going to be more difficult, that’s why we are going in hopes of getting an appointment quicker so we are able to cross before he (Trump) takes office," Yotzeli Peña, 23, a migrant from Venezuela tells the Associated Press. "That would be easier."
Trump has promised to seal the southern border due to the unprecedented flow of migrants into the U.S. over the last three and a half years.
He has also vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in the history of the U.S. and has appointed hardliner South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) while Tom Homan will be the new "Border Czar."
Additionally, he has also pledged to end the use of parole programs by the Biden administration that allow migrants to enter in via the expanded "lawful pathways."
Numbers have been dropping sharply at the border since June, when President Biden signed a presidential proclamation drastically limiting the number of arrivals who can come into the U.S.
In September, there were 101,790 encounters at the border, the lowest number since February 2021, and there have been no major signs of a significant increase in numbers since then.
However, while numbers remain lower than in previous months, there have been concerns that the change in administrations may lead to a surge at the border as migrants attempt to enter the U.S. before a perceived tougher administration enters office.
This year, in a bid to stop people from gathering at the U.S. southern border to claim asylum, the federal government expanded areas where migrants can apply via the CBP One cellphone app for appointments to enter the United States.
Initially, the app was only available to migrants in northern and central Mexico, but officials changed it to include those at the southern border.
By extending the app south to Tapachula, officials hoped it would stem the rush north. But some migrants still want to be close to the border so that if they do get one of the cherished appointments, they can get to it quickly and not risk missing it.
"They’re determined to make it into the U.S., one way or the other, because they’ve sold everything, they have nothing to go back to," independent journalist Auden Cabello, who extensively covered the border crisis, told Fox News Digital last week.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Michael Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
