With border encounters at record lows, the House Homeland Security Committee’s latest “Border Brief” highlights a new front in the fight against transnational crime: the sea. While land apprehensions plummeted in November, the U.S. Coast Guard seized over 49,000 pounds of cocaine — the largest haul in a single patrol in its history.
The brief touts a 75% drop in nationwide border encounters and a 95% reduction in daily apprehensions compared to the previous administration. But buried in the data is a warning: threats against agents are rising, and criminal networks are adapting. Testimony before the committee confirmed that maritime smuggling is accelerating as traffickers seek new routes.
Lawmakers credit the Trump administration’s enforcement posture and the “One Big Beautiful Bill” for the land border clampdown. But the shift to sea routes raises new questions about interdiction capacity, coastal vulnerabilities, and whether maritime enforcement is resourced to match the evolving threat landscape.