(The Lion) — Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border hit their lowest level in 55 years – numbers the Trump administration is celebrating as a momentous turnaround at the southern border.
U.S. Border Patrol tracked nearly 238,000 apprehensions at the border in fiscal year 2025, CBS News first reported, the lowest number since fiscal year 1970, when border agents reported about 202,000 apprehensions.
Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 2024 to Sept. 30, meaning the first several months occurred under the Biden administration before President Donald Trump took office in January.
“This feat is a testament to the Trump Administration’s success in restoring control at the border— despite the handicap of more than three months of Biden’s open-border chaos at the start of the fiscal year,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Indeed, the department said the majority of the past fiscal year’s border encounters – 72% – happened under the Biden administration. Since Trump’s second term began, there have been just over 65,000 apprehensions – making up less than 30% of the year’s total.
In September, Border Patrol agents recorded an average of 279 apprehensions at the southwest border per day, according to Homeland Security. The administration said the number is “fewer in an entire day now than in just two hours under the last administration,” and 95% lower than the Biden administration’s “daily average of 5,110 from February 2021 through December 2024.”
The decreased border apprehensions come as Trump has embarked on an illegal immigration crackdown that has seen more than 2 million illegal aliens removed or voluntarily self-deported since Jan. 20.
On his first day in office, a Trump executive order declared the U.S. was under a migrant “invasion.”
His policies have come under attack by immigration activists, but polling indicates a majority of Americans support the deportations. A September New York Times/Siena poll found 54% of registered voters agree with “deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally back to their home countries.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in a statement about the reduced illegal alien apprehensions, called the border the “most secure” in “American history.”
“We have shattered multiple records this year and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of Southwest border apprehensions in 55 years,” Noem said, crediting Trump with enabling law enforcement to take action.
The White House touted Trump’s “relentless commitment to securing our homeland,” which has led to a “historic victory for American sovereignty and safety.”
“After Biden-era chaos unleashed a record-shattering invasion, the seismic turnaround proves that strong leadership can, in fact, stop the flood of illegal crossings, deadly cartels, and security threats dead in their tracks,” the White House said in a statement.
