The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Trump is fulfilling his pledge to build fortress America — and running on it

February 11, 2020 at 9:07 p.m. EST
President Trump visits a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, Calif., in September. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)

As he rallies support for his reelection in November, President Trump is closer than ever to delivering on his promise for a United States with taller walls, tighter immigration laws and fewer foreigners entering the country.

During the past three years, the president has hardened the nation’s immigration system into an obstacle course of physical and bureaucratic barriers, causing illegal border crossings to plummet and legal immigration to slump.