Border Apprehensions of Illegal Immigrants Hit Lowest in History, CBP Says

Apprehensions along the southwest border have declined 94 percent year-over-year, the agency says.

U.S. Border Patrol agents prepare to transport illegal immigrants for processing next to the U.S.–Mexico border fence near Sasabe, Ariz., on Jan. 19, 2025. John Moore/Getty Images

The number of illegal immigrants apprehended by authorities has dropped significantly under the Trump administration, according to the latest figures released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Average apprehensions by Border Patrol agents totaled approximately 330 per day in February, the first full month since President Donald Trump issued new executive orders on the border, the agency said in a March 12 monthly report, adding that this was the “lowest nationwide average apprehensions” in CBP history.

Last month, Border Patrol agents apprehended 8,347 illegal immigrants at the southern border, down 94 percent from 140,641 apprehensions in February 2024, CBP data show.

Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have sent a clear message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported without an opportunity to try another day, or in a few hours,” the agency stated.

Homeland Security launched an ad campaign in February warning illegal immigrants that if they do not willingly remove themselves from the country, they will be deported with no chance of coming back. Those who self-deport may get an opportunity to return to the United States, according to the campaign ads.

Pete Flores, acting commissioner of CBP, said that the agency’s officials continue to “aggressively implement the president’s executive orders“ to secure the country’s borders and that as a result of this leadership, the agency has ”achieved historic lows in border apprehensions.”

The agency recently launched the CBP Home mobile application, which allows illegal immigrants in the United States to notify the government about their plans to leave the country. This ensures an “orderly process for aliens to communicate their departure plans,” it said.

On Feb. 26, Noem said that more than 20,000 illegal immigrants had been arrested inside the country by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a single month. In comparison, the agency arrested 33,000 illegal immigrants during all of 2024 under the prior administration.

“Hundreds of thousands of criminals were let into this country illegally. We are sending them home, and they will never be allowed to return,” Noem said.

The administration is “saving lives every day because of the actions we are taking to secure the border and deport illegal alien criminals,” she said.

Debate on Illegal Immigration

The drop in border apprehensions and increase in ICE arrests follow several executive actions issued by Trump.

He has deployed additional troops to secure the border, declared a national emergency, and ordered the completion of the border wall.

The administration’s policies on illegal immigration have met with opposition from some lawmakers.

On March 5, Democrat mayors of four major cities—New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Denver—defended their sanctuary policies to protect illegal immigrants from federal immigration officials before a House committee, saying they were not in violation of federal laws.

“The Constitution, as I understand it, doesn’t require cities or police officers or anyone to follow ... federal laws in conflict with local laws or state laws,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said at the time.

A group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Trump on March 11, criticizing him for using the term “invasion” in a presidential action to characterize the inflow of illegal immigrants.

“As a legal matter, migration is not an ‘invasion,’” they wrote. “Proclaiming a rhetorical ‘invasion’ would degrade protections throughout the Constitution.”

“The United States is not being invaded; it is not at war with migrants, and you must uphold our duly enacted immigration laws,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, immigration detention facilities in the country have already reached capacity, with all 47,600 beds filled, an ICE official said on March 12.

ICE is expanding its detention capacity, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense, and U.S. Marshals Service are supporting the effort.

On March 4, border czar Tom Homan called for more funding to tackle the illegal immigration issue.

“We need more beds, we need more enforcement assets, we need more air flights. This operation is going to cost money,” he said. “We’re hitting on all cylinders, but we need more money to do more.”