A longtime critic of President Donald Trump is now crediting him with effectively addressing one of the nation’s most pressing issues: illegal immigration.

Marc Thiessen, a columnist for the Washington Post who has frequently criticized Trump, is now acknowledging the success of his administration’s efforts in tackling the border crisis, calling the results undeniable.

In his latest column for the Post, Thiessen highlighted significant new border statistics, demonstrating an extraordinary drop in illegal crossings since Trump resumed office. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported just 15,700 migrant encounters at the southern border during the first 30 days of Trump’s second term—the lowest figure in nearly eight years.

This marks a 94% decrease from the record-high 263,900 encounters in December 2023 under former President Joe Biden.

Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, acknowledged that Trump didn’t require new legislation to address the crisis. While President Biden claimed that securing the border would require a bipartisan bill, Trump took swift executive actions that immediately reversed the situation.

“Since Trump’s inauguration, the southern border has suddenly become quiet,” Thiessen wrote. A week later, on February 22, border encounters dropped even further—to just 200—marking the lowest single-day total in more than 15 years, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The administration attributes these significant reductions to a series of executive orders and policy reversals that took effect immediately after Trump’s return to office.

Thiessen argues that Biden’s refusal to use existing presidential powers was a “crisis of choice,” not necessity.

“Biden could have taken any or all of these steps,” he wrote. “He had all the authority he needed to secure the border. He chose not to do so. Instead, he unleashed the largest surge of illegal migrants in U.S. history. His border debacle was a crisis of choice.”

“Apparently, all it took to control our southern border was presidential will and a new border czar. Unlike Biden, Trump is choosing to enforce the law — and that is the first step to restoring America’s place as a nation of legal immigrants,” Thiessen added.