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Border apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico southwest border experienced a significant decline of nearly 38 percent in January, coinciding with Donald Trump’s inauguration as president on January 20.
According to the February Southwest Land Border Encounters report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents encountered approximately 47,000 migrants during President Biden’s final full month in office in December. This number dropped to 29,116 in January, marking a substantial decrease.
The situation presents a stark contrast to January 2021, Biden’s first month in office, when agents recorded over 75,000 migrant encounters. These numbers subsequently surged, reaching their peak at almost 250,000 apprehensions in December 2023.
Within a week, border crossings are down 95%. The message is out there, do not cross the American border unless you want to be hustled back to wherever you came from‼️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UJOJF6BoBc
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 29, 2025
Among the nine southwest border sectors, San Diego remains the most active, documenting just under 6,400 migrant apprehensions. This represents a 74 percent reduction compared to the previous year’s figures.
Texas’s Rio Grande Valley Sector now holds the second position, with nearly 6,000 migrant apprehensions, down from more than 7,300 recorded a year ago.
The El Paso, Tucson, and Del Rio Sectors complete the top five, reporting 4,871, 4,727, and 3,467 migrant encounters respectively. The Tucson Sector witnessed the most dramatic decrease, with encounters falling almost 91 percent from last year’s 50,560.
Border Czar Tom Homan says border crossings are down 93%:
"The crossings on the border are down 93% … that's a bigger decrease than under the first Trump administration. We’ve got more work to do.”
pic.twitter.com/01NNb3qSxR— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 2, 2025
According to social media updates from Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez, February’s border encounters are averaging approximately 328 daily. If this trend continues through month-end, February’s total migrant encounters could drop to around 9,200.
Such figures would establish a new low in CBP records, which extend back to the Clinton administration’s final complete year (FY2000). The previous record low occurred during Trump’s third full month as president in April 2017, with 11,127 migrant encounters.
