President Trump touts border wall, warns of 'calamity' of potential illegal immigration

President Trump on Tuesday afternoon touted a section of his signature border wall project in Alamo, Texas, arguing it has reduced illegal immigration into the country and claiming that a reversal on his administration's border wall policy may usher in a new wave of illegal immigration. 

Trump gave the remarks to a crowd near the wall after taking a brief tour of it. A border wall was among the earliest campaign promises touted by Trump when he announced his candidacy in 2015. 

"When I took office, we inherited a broken, dysfunctional and open border," Trump claimed during Tuesday's address. "Everybody was pouring in at will.”

"In every region that we’ve built the wall," he continued, "illegal crossings and drug smuggling have plummeted, absolutely plummeted.”

The president warned that a relaxation of his administration's immigration policies—such as a re-instatement of the controversial policy known as "catch-and-release"—would "be an unmitigated calamity for national security, public safety and public health. It would destroy millions and millions of jobs and claim thousands of lives.”

The Biden administration will assume control of the White House in a little over a week's time.