Illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border have plunged to their lowest annual level in over half a century, internal government data reveals, marking a dramatic shift in migration patterns under the Trump administration. US Border Patrol records about 238,000 apprehensions in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to unpublished Department of Homeland Security data obtained by CBS News. That's the smallest tally since 1970 and marks a sharp contrast from the record 2.2 million apprehensions in 2022 during the Biden administration.
More than 60% of the annual apprehensions were logged in the last three months of the prior administration, before steep declines set in. In Trump's first eight months, monthly apprehensions dropped below 9,000—roughly the same number seen in some single days at the border under President Biden. The clampdown, officials say, stems from a suite of measures: militarization at the border, the effective closure of the asylum system, larger deployments of soldiers, and a halt to Biden-era legal entry programs. Those caught entering illegally now face detention and speedy deportation, with far fewer being released into the US while awaiting hearings.
Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have condemned these policies as excessively harsh and potentially unlawful, challenging them in court and sparking protests in major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. An El Paso shelter operator who was asked about the new reality declined to get "into the politics about whether or not I like it or dislike it," per CBS. However, he noted that "if the goal is to decrease the number of individuals, I would say that appears to have been successful ... We're just simply not seeing the people." The White House highlighted the reporting on Tuesday.
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