U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Monrovia, was among those on a congressional committee who voted this week for legislation to fund border security.

Strong, who represents North Alabama’s 5th Congressional District, is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. The committee approved its portion of the budget reconciliation package, his office announced Wednesday.

The package provides $69 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s border security mission.

Strong said American citizens were safer because Donald Trump is president.

“He wasted no time restarting construction of the border wall and reinstating effective immigration enforcement policies,” the congressman said. “His decisive action is protecting North Alabama by curbing illegal immigration, stopping drug trafficking, and dismantling dangerous criminal networks.”

Strong said Congress must provide the necessary resources to fund the president’s agenda.

“This is a once-in-a-generation border security overhaul that includes funding for a state-of-the-art border barrier system, investments in border personnel and fleet vehicles, and border surveillance technology,” Strong said.

The budget includes funding for:

An effective border wall system for domain awareness between ports of entry, including border barrier construction and wall technology

Additional frontline personnel to accomplish their vital homeland security missions in the field, including additional Border Patrol agents, CBP officers, and Air and Marine operations personnel and equipment

Technology to close exploitable gaps and enhance interdictions, including drone mitigation, surveillance equipment and towers, and technology to assist frontline officers in detecting deadly illicit drugs, such as fentanyl, at ports of entry.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded its lowest southwest border crossings in history in March.

March was the second consecutive month in which U.S. Border Patrol averaged the lowest daily nationwide apprehensions in history at approximately 264 per day during the month. That is 20% lower than the 330 daily nationwide average apprehensions in February and 94% lower than 4,488 per day average from March 2024.

In March 2025, USBP apprehended 7,181 illegal aliens crossing the southwest border between ports of entry. This constitutes a 14% decrease from February 2025 when USBP apprehended 8,346 aliens, and a 95% decrease from March 2024 when USBP apprehended 137,473 aliens.