Illegal border crossings plunge under Trump in 2025, but numbers are rising

The last time illegal border crossings were this low, disco music and bell-bottoms were in fashion.

Illegal crossings in 2025 have plunged to the lowest level since 1970 amid an aggressive crackdown by the Trump administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Border Patrol recorded roughly 238,000 migrant apprehensions in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, down from more than 1.5 million apprehensions in fiscal 2024.

Migration flows at the border peaked under the Biden administration at over 2 million apprehensions in 2022 and 2023 – an unprecedented wave of human migration that angered many American voters and helped sweep President Donald Trump back to power.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem touted the decline, saying the Trump administration has produced "the most secure border in American history."

"Our end of year numbers prove it," she said in a statement. "Once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of Southwest border apprehensions in 55 years."

The dramatic drop in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border began during the final year of President Joe Biden's term, after Mexico cracked down on migration through its territory, Biden suspended access to asylum at the border, and his administration implemented new "legal pathways" for migrants to present at a port of entry.

But the decline in illegal crossings accelerated rapidly after Trump took office in January.

Trump ordered the deployment of hundreds of U.S. military troops to the border and began an aggressive deportation campaign that has sent shockwaves through immigrant communities. He further suspended access to the U.S. asylum system and canceled the "legal pathways" Biden created.

There's another factor: fear, said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight for the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonprofit that tracks border trends.

"Word has gotten out about the climate of fear here in the United States," Isacson said. "We're all seeing the videos of mass deportations, and people are hearing what life is like in our detention system right now."

DHS said there were an average of 279 apprehensions per day in September, amounting to nearly 8,400 apprehensions for the month.

Migrant apprehensions ticked higher in both August and September from a low of nearly 4,600 in July, according to DHS data.

Lauren Villagran covers immigration for USA TODAY and can be reached at [email protected].