Illegal crossings along the US-Mexico border have reached a remarkable decline, hitting a 55-year low for the fiscal year 2025. Most of the unlawful crossings occurred in the last months of the Biden administration.
According to data unveiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday, federal authorities apprehended 237,565 migrants at the southwestern border between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025.
This number represents the minimal fiscal year total for apprehensions since 1970, a year in which authorities detained 201,780 migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border.
Moreover, this figure is 87% lower than the average apprehensions recorded over the last four fiscal years, which was around 1.86 million, indicated DHS.
“We have established the most secure border in American history, and our end-of-year statistics affirm this,” stated DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement. “This year, we have shattered numerous records, including the lowest number of apprehensions at the Southwest border in 55 years.”
“Under President Trump, we have empowered our law enforcement agencies to fulfill their duties, and they have succeeded significantly.”
The majority of apprehensions during fiscal year 2025 transpired in the last quarter of the Biden administration, a period when an average of about 2.4 million migrants entered the country annually from 2021 to 2024, primarily illegally.
In the first 111 days of the fiscal year, while the Biden administration was still in power, border agents apprehended 172,026 individuals—accounting for 72% of the year’s total.
Over the subsequent 254 days, the Trump administration recorded 65,539 apprehensions, representing 27% of the total.
In September alone, approximately 8,400 apprehensions were logged along the southwest border, a rise from 6,300 in August and a significantly lower figure of 4,600 in July.
For the fifth month in a row, however, authorities reported zero migrants released into the US during September, as stated by DHS.
Under the Biden administration, a total of 9,144 migrants were allowed into the country in September 2024 alone.
President Trump swiftly moved to tighten border security upon taking up office in January, deploying thousands of military personnel to discourage illegal crossings, attempting to halt asylum claims, and reforming Biden-era immigration policies.
Trump has also instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to apprehend and deport undocumented migrants within the country.
ICE is projected to deport 600,000 undocumented migrants this year, with over 2 million undocumented migrants having voluntarily exited the country since January, according to data from DHS obtained by The Post.
