Migrant apprehensions at Mexico border hit 55-year low, US reports

The fig of migrants detained by U.S. authorities aft crossing the Mexico-U.S. borderline betwixt authoritative ports of introduction declined to the lowest level successful 55 years successful Fiscal Year 2025, the U.S. authorities said Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced “preliminary enforcement numbers” connected Tuesday that showed that determination were 237,565 apprehensions astatine the Mexico-U.S. borderline successful Fiscal Year 2025, which began connected Oct. 1, 2024, and concluded connected Sept. 30, 2025.

The fig was “the lowest fiscal twelvemonth full successful 55 years, compared to 201,780 successful Fiscal Year 1970,” DHS and CBP said successful a statement.

They besides said that the fig was 87% beneath the mean of the past 4 fiscal years, which was 1.86 million.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said that the information for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) “shows what happens erstwhile we enforce the instrumentality without compromise.”

“For excessively long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to bash their jobs – and the effect is the lowest apprehensions successful much than 5 decades, and the astir unafraid borderline successful modern history,” helium said.

DHS and CBP said that the simplification of borderline apprehensions to a 55-year debased “is a testament to the Trump Administration’s occurrence successful restoring power astatine the borderline contempt the handicap of much than 3 months of Biden’s open-border chaos astatine the commencement of the fiscal year.”

More than 70% of apprehensions successful FY25 occurred successful the last months of the Biden administration 

DHS and CBP said that 72% of the apprehensions of migrants successful FY25 occurred during the Biden administration.

Joe Biden was successful bureau for the archetypal 111 days of FY25, a play successful which 172,026 migrants were detained astatine the border, according to the preliminary U.S. data.

During the archetypal 254 days of the Trump medication — a play accounting for the remainder of FY25 — 65,539 migrants were detained aft illegally crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. That fig represents 27.6% of the full apprehensions successful FY25.

The preliminary information indicates that during the 2nd Trump administration, an mean of astir 8,000 migrants per period person been apprehended aft illegally crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.

CBS News, which obtained the preliminary DHS information earlier it was released, reported that arsenic galore arsenic 9,000 migrants were detained astatine the borderline connected immoderate azygous days during the Biden administration.

In Fiscal Year 2022, U.S. Border Patrol detained a grounds precocious 2.2 cardinal migrants astatine the Mexico-U.S. border, a fig much than 800% higher than that recorded successful FY25.

Migrants tin beryllium counted much than erstwhile if they are detained again by U.S. authorities aft having antecedently been turned backmost to Mexico.

Why person borderline apprehensions dropped truthful dramatically? 

CBS News reported that soon aft U.S. President Donald Trump began his 2nd term, “his medication moved to seal and militarize the confederate border, closing down the American asylum system using exigency powers, dispatching thousands of soldiers to repel amerciable crossings and shutting down Biden-era programs that allowed immoderate migrants to participate the U.S. legally.”

Migrants person frankincense been dissuaded from attempting to participate the United States since Trump began his 2nd word connected Jan. 20.

A caller migrant caravan is heading northbound from Chiapas, but it’s not US-bound 

In caller years, ample numbers of migrants from Western Hemisphere countries, and further afield, came to Mexico en way to the United States. While millions of migrants crossed into the United States during the Biden administration, Mexico detained and deported a important fig of foreigners successful the aforesaid period.

Just 2 weeks aft Trump took office, President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to Mexico’s bluish borderline portion arsenic portion of a woody with the United States that postponed a projected broad tariff connected Mexican exports to the U.S.

Trump said astatine the clip that the Mexican “soldiers” would beryllium “specifically designated to halt the travel of fentanyl, and amerciable migrants into our Country.”

Even earlier Trump took office, apprehensions of migrants astatine the Mexico-U.S. borderline were declining, the effect of Biden’s implementation of a caller borderline argumentation successful June 2024.

Migrant apprehensions successful September 95% little than Biden-era average 

DHS and CBP said that an mean of 279 migrants were apprehended per time successful September.

There are less apprehensions “in an full time present than successful conscionable 2 hours nether the past administration,” the authorities departments said.

DHS and CBP besides said that apprehensions successful September were 95% little than the Biden administration’s daily mean of 5,110 from February 2021 done December 2024.

However, apprehensions successful September — which numbered astir 8,400 — accrued astir 80% from the monthly debased of 4,600 successful July.

DHS and CBP besides highlighted that “September marked the 5th consecutive period with ZERO releases [of migrants] by the Border Patrol on the southwest border, compared to 9,144 releases successful September 2024.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said that “President Trump has overwhelmingly delivered connected his committedness to unafraid our Southern Border.”

“As a result, Americans are safer — unvetted transgression amerciable aliens and unsafe drugs are nary longer pouring implicit our borderline unchecked,” she said successful a statement.

The White House said successful a abstracted connection that “after Biden-era chaos unleashed a record-shattering invasion, the seismic turnaround proves that beardown enactment can, successful fact, halt the flood of amerciable crossings, deadly cartels, and information threats dormant successful their tracks.”

With reports from CBS News