White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt harshly criticized the notion that presidents need Congress to address America’s serious immigration and border challenges, labeling it a ‘BS’ excuse. 

On the weekend marking six months of President Donald Trump’s administration, Leavitt made an appearance on the conservative ‘Ruthless’ Podcast to commemorate this milestone. 

‘It’s remarkable. Reflecting on the campaign, which you guys covered and I was a part of, the President made numerous promises, but two key ones were really defeating inflation and securing the border.’

Leavitt, 27, added that no president before Trump was able to achieve their two primary campaign promises in half a year.

‘It’s so remarkable, and they did it all via executive power and orders,’ she added.   

Host Josh Holmes interjected: ‘We were told reliably you couldn’t do that.’

‘Yeah, we were told you needed a bill to secure the border, which was bulls***,’ Leavitt quickly remarked, prompting the hosts to chuckle.

‘You just needed a new president,’ she continued. 

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was ‘bulls***’ that past presidents needed Congress to act in order to address illegal immigration

Biden frequently said as president he wanted Congress to enact laws so that he could crack down on immigration

When Trump entered office earlier this year he enacted a slew of executive actions to immediately address illegal immigration.

His actions, some of which were put into action on his first day in office, mobilized the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to deploy armed forces to enhance border security. 

Thousands of troops were subsequently rushed to the border and given temporary control over 100,000 acres of border land to protect. 

Trump’s orders also significantly altered the asylum process to make it more difficult for migrants to cross illegally into the U.S. and then claim protections, though the effort has faced legal challenges. 

In February, the president signed another action restricting illegal migrants from receiving federal funds. 

Another Trump order in April cracked down on ‘Sanctuary Cities.’

For those that ‘remain’ sanctuary jurisdictions, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem then ‘shall pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States.’ 

Other migrant-related actions, like the president’s challenge to birthright citizenship, have been helped up in court. 

Migrants seeking asylum from Mexico, India and Ecuador keep warm by a fire while waiting to be apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing over a section of border wall into the U.S. on January 05, 2025 in Ruby, Arizona

Leavitt celebrated the first six months of the Trump administration as ‘incredible’

The flurry of orders has delivered results. In June, there were approximately 25,000 migrant encounters in the U.S., a record low for Customs and Border Protection, according to the agency. 

Trump has also asked Congress for help with immigration. 

In July, Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda, dubbed the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ allocated billions of dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Past presidents, on the other hand, have demanded congressional action before unilaterally cracking down on illegal immigration. 

Last spring, as hundreds of thousands of migrants from all over the world showed up monthly at the U.S.-Mexico border, often illegally crossing into the U.S., Biden urged Congress to pass legislation to address the crisis. 

Biden repeatedly told reporters that he could not do anything about the border flooded with migrants without the legislative branch. 

A bipartisan bill at the time would have approved billions of dollars for additional beds for migrants, funding immigration judges and give the president additional authorities over shutting down immigration altogether. 

Hundreds of migrants from various nationalities arrive in Ciudad Juarez, located on the border with the United States, Mexico on March 5, 2024

The proposal would have enabled the president to shut down the border if 4,000 migrants crossed the per day over the course of a week – meaning 28,000 migrants would have to cross before the president could act. 

Trump called on Republicans to oppose the measure, saying its weak restrictions would do nothing but hand Biden a political alibi. 

Biden eventually enacted an executive order that stemmed the flow of illegal immigration without action from Congress. 

Former President Obama also called on Congress to act so that he could make immigration reforms. 

‘I take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue, and Congress chooses to do nothing,’ he said in a 2014 speech.