Illegal border crossings drop to lowest level since 1970, new data reveals

Illegal crossings along the US-Mexico border plummeted to a 55-year low in fiscal year 2025 – with the vast majority of unlawful attempts to enter the country taking place during the final months of the Biden administration. 

Federal authorities apprehended a total of 237,565 migrants along the southwest border during the period between Oct. 1, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2025, according to data released Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

The figure is the lowest fiscal year total for apprehensions since 1970, when authorities caught 201,780 migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico boundary. 

It is also 87% less than the average number of apprehensions over the last four fiscal years, which was about 1.86 million, according to DHS. 

“We have had the most secure border in American history and our end of year numbers prove it,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “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.” 

“Under President Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job and they have delivered.” 

Most of the apprehensions in fiscal year 2025 occurred during the final three months of the Biden administration, under which an average of about 2.4 million migrants poured into the country every year between 2021 and 2024 — most crossing into the US illegally. 

During the first 111 days of the fiscal year, when former President Joe Biden was still in office, border agents apprehended 172,026 individuals — 72% of the 2025 total

Over the next 254 days, the Trump administration recorded 65,539 apprehensions, or 27% of the year’s total.

For the month of September, apprehensions along the southwest border totaled about 8,400 – up from 6,300 in August and the July record-low monthly total of 4,600. 

For the fifth consecutive month, however, authorities released zero migrants into the US throughout September, according to DHS. 

Under Biden, 9,144 migrants were released into the country just in September 2024. 

President Trump acted quickly to seal the southern border upon taking office in January, deploying thousands of troops to deter illegal crossings, moving to suspend asylum claims and overhauling Biden-era immigration policies. 

Trump has also tasked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with apprehending and deporting illegal migrants in the interior of the country.

 ICE is on track to deport 600,000 illegal migrants this year – and more than 2 million illegal migrants have voluntarily left the country since January, according to DHS data obtained by The Post.