Illegal Border Crossings Reach Lowest Level in Five Years
Illegal border crossing apprehensions saw a sharp decline in the days following President Donald Trump’s return to office, with the White House attributing the drop to what it called “the Trump effect.”
According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), illegal border crossing apprehensions fell 36 percent in January from the previous month. This included over 29,000 apprehensions at the border and 32,000 at ports of entry, marking the lowest total since May 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions largely shut down the immigration system.
“From Jan. 21 through Jan. 31, the number of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border dropped 85% from the same period in 2024, according to data obtained by ABC News,” the White House cited in a statement on Tuesday. “In the 11 days after Jan. 20, migrants apprehended at ports of entry declined by 93%.”
Under the previous administration, illegal crossings in January averaged 141,710. The Trump administration referred to this significantly higher number as “the result of dangerous policies that ferried illegal aliens directly into our communities, where they were allowed to stay indefinitely.”
The current administration has implemented several initiatives to crack down on illegal immigration, with Trump declaring a national emergency at the southern border in his first days back in office. Additionally, newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has pledged to launch “a nationwide and international multimillion-dollar ad campaign warning illegal aliens to leave our country NOW or face deportation with the inability to return to the US.”
“Let me deliver a message from President Trump to the world. If you are considering entering America illegally, don’t even think about it. Let me be clear. If you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down,” Noem said in a video released on Monday. “Criminals are not welcome in the United States. For too long, weak leadership has left our borders wide open, flooding our communities with drugs, human trafficking, and violent criminals.”
