The Shadow
Immigration and Inflation
As we near the conclusion of President Trump’s first year of this term, I thought we should look at two issues he faced, immigration and inflation.
Trump acted swiftly to try to repair the damage done by the Biden-Harris Administration.
For many, the Biden-Harris era will be remembered for its failures to contain illegal immigration and tame high levels of inflation.
More than 11 million illegal aliens entered the United States thanks to Biden-Harris open borders policies!
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that in Fiscal Year 2023, nationwide encounters topped more than 200,000 every month.
Some months even eclipsed 300,000!
At one point, Biden and Democrats erroneously claimed they could not fix the illegal immigration problem. They argued that it was a problem for Congress to solve!
Trump proved them wrong.
Since February 2025, CBP reports significant declines in nationwide encounters. Monthly reports show that encounters dipped to an average of under 30,000 encounters nationwide!
The progress on the border has been significant!
Recent signs show that we are making some progress on inflation as well.
At one point under Biden-Harris, the inflation rate hit 9.1% year-over-year. That number had not been seen in the United States in four decades!
Interestingly, the last time the yearly inflation reached that level was when a Republican president inherited a similar troubling economy from an unpopular Democratic president.
It was November 1981. President Ronald Reagan had been elected to office a year prior largely on a promise to fix the U.S. economy.
Americans were fed up with President Jimmy Carter, who is also remembered for his failure to address high inflation.
As Reagan went about his first year in office, the inflation issue did not go away. Despite passage of a major tax cuts bill in his first year, Americans were still reeling from the Carter economy.
The public was beginning to doubt Reagan’s economic vision. His approval ratings were dipping.
Nonetheless, Reagan persisted with his free market reforms. After some time, Reagan’s economic measures to cut taxes and regulations started to pay off!
Ironically, Trump finds himself following in Reagan’s footsteps.
After nearly a year in office, a majority of Americans feel dissatisfied with the economy. Patience appears to be running thin.
Like you, I am eager to see Trump fix the Biden-Harris economy. If it could happen tomorrow, I would be ecstatic!
But as was the case with Reagan, it can take time to implement economic reforms and to see them yield results.
Recently, we received good economic news.
A report from the Consumer Price Index shows that the annual inflation rate in November slowed to 2.7%, better than what economists predicted.
While some urge caution that this number may not be wholly reflective because of the government shutdown, no one is arguing the annual inflation rate is anywhere close to 9.1% like it was under Biden-Harris.
The Federal Reserve generally regards 2% as the target annual inflation rate.
A 2% annual inflation rate helps show that the economy is healthy enough for people and businesses to spend money and make investments, driving economic growth and helping stabilize prices for consumers.
We are seeing gas prices coming down, which indicates future price drops in goods because many goods are transported by truck.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also grew at 4.3% in the 3rd quarter of 2025.
While it is a work in progress, I believe that Trump’s efforts to reverse Biden-Harris inflationary policies will yield benefits for U.S. consumers.
The reconciliation bill that I voted for, and Republicans passed, this summer should also help our economic prospects.
Just like Reagan’s tax cuts bill in his first year, we delivered Trump a tax cuts package in his first year.
The bill preserves the 2017 Tax Cuts, prevents a massive tax hike on American consumers and helps deliver American communities better economic opportunities.
Such economic opportunities will stem from new policies that include no taxes on tips, no taxes on hourly overtime and a senior tax bonus.
While these strong provisions will support our economy, it should be noted that Democrats, who gloated about the Biden-Harris economy and dismissed the inflation issue, opposed our reconciliation bill!
Going into 2026, I will continue to support securing our borders and advocate for policies that lower taxes, promote deregulation, and in turn, tackle inflation.
As progress continues on these fronts, Republicans in Congress will continue to support Trump’s efforts to clean up Biden’s inflation mess and help steer the U.S. economy to new heights.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/.
