In 2025, a record low number of migrants crossed the US southern border illegally.

The number of illegal border crossings between the US and Mexico fell sharply in fiscal year 2025. This is the lowest level since the early 1970s, according to internal federal data obtained. CBS News.

U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded nearly 238,000 apprehensions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2025, according to preliminary data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This is the lowest annual number recorded by the Border Patrol since fiscal year 1970, when the agency reported approximately 202,000 apprehensions on the U.S.-Mexico border.

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This number stands in stark contrast to the record highs seen during the Biden administration, which has faced an unprecedented humanitarian crisis at the border. In fiscal year 2022, the Border Patrol made 2,2 million apprehensions—a record number, nearly 10 times higher than the 2025 level.

Preliminary data shows that more than 60% of all apprehensions on the southern border in fiscal year 2025 occurred in the last three full months of the Biden administration. During the first eight months of Trump's presidency, Border Patrol agents working on the southern border recorded fewer than 9000 apprehensions per month—the same number they recorded in a single day under Biden.

Internal DHS data shows there were about 8400 apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border in September, up from 6300 in August and 4600 in July.

The apprehension rate reflects the number of instances in which agents stopped and processed migrants who crossed the border outside official ports of entry, which is illegal. Some migrants may be counted multiple times if they attempt to reenter the United States after being deported to Mexico.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: "President Trump has fully delivered on his promise to secure our southern border."

"As a result, Americans are now safer—illegal criminals and dangerous drugs no longer flow unchecked across the border," Jackson added. "And to all the Democrats who claimed that border security was impossible or that new laws were needed, we showed them that all we needed was a new president."

The New Normal

Migration Policy Institute analyst Ariel Ruiz Soto noted that the sharp decline in unauthorized crossings began in the summer of 2024, when the Biden administration imposed strict restrictions on asylum. However, Soto added that the Trump administration established a "new normal" for migration flows in just a few months.

The analyst noted that the Trump administration's tough measures—both at the border and inside the country—"have had a significant impact on people's decisions not to try to enter the United States illegally."

Shortly after Trump took office for his second term, his administration began effectively "sealing" and militarizing the southern border. Using emergency powers, it shut down the asylum system, deploying thousands of troops to prevent illegal crossings. Biden-era programs that allowed certain categories of migrants to enter the United States legally were terminated.

The Trump administration has effectively ended the practice of releasing migrants who crossed the border illegally, quickly deporting them or holding them in detention pending review.

Furthermore, the Trump administration is conducting large-scale operations across the country targeting people in the United States illegally. The White House is deploying teams of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents to carry out an unprecedented deportation campaign.

These measures have sparked heated debate. Several organizations have called the administration's border policy inhumane, repressive, and illegal. In particular, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is challenging it in federal court, argues that it violates the Constitution, U.S. law, and international asylum standards.

Immigration raids far from the border have sparked outrage, particularly in major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, where mass protests have erupted. National and local Democrats have condemned the raids as overly harsh and indiscriminate, accusing the Trump administration of focusing on more than just deporting criminals.

Citing clashes and violence, Trump in recent days ordered National Guard units to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, to protect immigration agents and government facilities. A federal court has blocked the plan to deploy troops to Portland.

Amid national debates over immigration policy, residents of southern border regions say the situation on the ground has changed dramatically.

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John Martin, who heads a network of shelters in the border city of El Paso, Texas, said that under Biden, his centers housed hundreds of migrants. He said there were no migrants in the shelters on October 6; in recent months, they have housed almost exclusively local homeless people. Martin attributed this to Trump's measures.

"If the goal was to reduce the number of arrivals, then I'd say it was successful. I won't get into the political assessment or whether I like it or not," Martin concluded. "We just don't see these people anymore."

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