‘Turnaround for the ages’: Trump boasts victory at the southern border — 0 illegal aliens entered in 9 months

During President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he highlighted his administration’s successful immigration enforcement efforts as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown entered its 11th day.

Trump called the past year “a turnaround for the ages” in the United States after the prior administration allowed “11,888 murderers” to enter the U.S.

‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’

“After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders, totally unvetted and unchecked,” Trump stated, “we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States. But we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.”

ICE has hired 12,000 additional officers and agents. During Trump’s first year back in office, his administration has removed an estimated 3 million illegal aliens, including 2.2 million self-deportations and 675,000 deportations.

Trump was joined at the SOTU address by the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard soldier who was fatally shot in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan man allowed into the country during former President Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal.

Dalilah Coleman, a child who was left with critical and life-altering injuries at 5 years old as a result of a multi-car wreck caused by an illegal alien truck driver, also attended the event. Trump called on Congress to pass Dalilah’s Law, which would bar any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

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Trump slammed Democrats for the ongoing DHS shutdown, which prompted the agency to implement emergency measures to conserve resources, including halting all Federal Emergency Management Agency non-disaster-related response efforts, Global Entry, and airport police escorts for members of Congress.

“As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. … Now they have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers. Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security, Homeland Security of the United States,” Trump said.

The president urged lawmakers to demonstrate their commitment to prioritizing the protection of American citizens.

“If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” Trump told lawmakers.

Republican lawmakers stood up in response, while most Democrats remained seated.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Trump told Democrats who refused to stand. He also called on lawmakers to “end deadly sanctuary cities” and pass the SAVE America Act, which aims to keep noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

RELATED: Watch the State of the Union tonight on BlazeTV’s YouTube channel

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The DHS previously criticized Democratic lawmakers for causing three shutdowns that have impacted the agency.

“This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated Sunday. “Shutdowns have real-world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security.”

Negotiations to end the shutdown appear to be stalled, with Democrats demanding ICE reforms.

“It is our view that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, it should be just, and it should be humane,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated last week.

“That’s not what’s happening now in the United States of America, and that’s why ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful, and transformational manner,” Jeffries continued. “And if that doesn’t happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward.”