Border crossings have dropped significantly this month, reaching their lowest levels in decades, following President Trump’s decisive measures to curb illegal immigration along the southern border, The NY Post reports.
As of February, approximately 359 illegal migrants are being apprehended daily across the entire southern border, a stark decrease of more than 90% compared to February 2024, according to leaked data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
If this trend persists, the US is on course to experience its lowest monthly border crossings in over 25 years. Should the current pattern continue, the number of illegal migrants entering the country could fall to a level not observed since 1968, nearly six decades ago.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, stated, “It’s the lowest the US has seen in almost a lifetime.”
He further explained, “If you kind of break down the numbers, divide them by 365, we haven’t had numbers this low since the 1960s. So we’re talking 60-year lows if it’s sustained, obviously.”
CBP data reveals that only 3,953 illegal migrants were apprehended by February 11 this year.
If this trend continues, the total number of crossings for February could be about 10,000, a number not recorded since CBP started tracking month-to-month data in 1999.
The closest the numbers have come to this figure was in April 2017, just after Trump assumed office, when monthly crossings topped 11,000.
John Gramlich, associate director at the Pew Research Center, commented, “That’s a very, very low number.”
He pointed out that border crossings have been on a downward trajectory for nearly a year, particularly after former President Biden imposed tougher measures to prevent illegal migrants from claiming asylum at the border.
At this time last year, daily apprehensions were averaging 4,850 migrants, more than ten times the current daily figures, according to federal data.
The entire southern border is experiencing the effects of this shift.
In Terrell County, Texas, Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland noted that his office typically receives numerous reports of illegal crossings during this time due to the cooler weather conditions along the border.
“It’s a relief,” Cleveland told The NY Post.
“We’ve gone from one extreme to the other extreme, historic levels of people crossing, historic levels of the low apprehensions. It’s very surprising,” he added.
San Diego, California, continues to lead the nation in illegal crossings, with 934 migrants having crossed so far this month.
Under the Trump administration, the US-Mexico border has been nearly closed off. This includes ending the Biden administration’s “catch and release” policy, deploying thousands of additional troops to the border, and initiating a widespread deportation effort across the country.
A source from Border Patrol remarked, “Already in the last few weeks a message is being sent out that the border isn’t going to be trampled over anymore, that national security isn’t a joke to us.”
In response to Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on all imports to the US, Mexico sent 10,000 of its troops to the border.
At the same time, the new administration has placed emphasis on increasing ICE raids, resulting in the arrests of 11,000 illegal migrants within the first 18 days of Trump’s presidency.
Trump also began sending illegal migrant criminals to Guantanamo Bay and resumed deportation flights to Venezuela after the Maduro government had halted these efforts for almost a year.
Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks recently appeared on “Fox & Friends” and stated that Trump’s leadership was essential for success on the frontlines.
“US Border Patrol knows how to get the job done, we know how to secure the border,” he said.
“All we needed was a president that was going to empower us — a strong leader like President Trump — and a secretary like Secretary Noem that knows exactly what we need to do to secure the border.”
{Matzav.com}