The world is a safer place with a secure U.S. border.

The number of migrants trying to reach the U.S. illegally through Panama’s Darien Gap – one of the most treacherous migrant corridors in the world – has plummeted to levels we haven’t seen since the pandemic.

Presidents can do a lot, for a little while. But if Congress doesn’t pass H.R. 2 to lock in this safer border, we could find ourselves in the midst of another illegal immigration surge in just a couple of years.

The House passed the bill in the last Congress — see the bill’s details here — and this Congress must reintroduce the legislation and move it through both the House and Senate before the president can sign it into law.

H.R. 2, with E-Verify, will lock in border security

In just one year of the border crisis, 55 people died and 180 children were abandoned in the Darien Gap. People took these risks because they knew there was a good chance they would be released into the United States even if they were inadmissible under U.S. law. People come to the U.S. illegally so they can work illegally.

The drop in migrants undertaking this journey is a result of the Trump administration turning inadmissible migrants away. Additionally, widely reported workplace enforcement actions have sent a signal around the world that it might not be as easy to work illegally in the United States as it used to be.

Deportations are necessary, but not sufficient.

A secure border and increased interior enforcement has done wonders to discourage new people from risking their lives and treasure. But most of the millions of inadmissible aliens who were released into the country between 2021-2025 remain. Deportations alone will not resolve that problem.

E-Verify is the ultimate force multiplier. H.R. 2 would make E-Verify mandatory nationwide.

These E-Verify bills would also crack down on illegal workers who steal Americans’ identities.

• S. 1151, the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act (Grassley) — are your senators supporting?
• H.R. 251, Legal Workforce Act (Rep. Calvert) — is you representative supporting?