The apprehension of migrants illegally crossing the border from Mexico along the U.S. southwest border fell by nearly 38 percent in January as Donald Trump was sworn in as president. President Trump took the oath of office on January 20.
During President Joe Biden’s last full month in office (December), Border Patrol agents encountered more than 47,000 migrants, according to the February Southwest Land Border Encounters report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In January, the number of migrant encounters fell to 29,116, representing a decrease of more than 38 percent.
During President Biden’s inaugural month, January 2021, agents apprehended more than 75,000 migrants. The numbers dramatically increased from that point, peaking at nearly 250,000 apprehensions in December 2023.
The San Diego Sector continues to be the busiest of the nine southwest border sectors, with just under 6,400 migrants apprehensioned, down by more than 74 percent from one year ago.
The Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas moved into the second-place spot with the apprehension of nearly 6,000 migrants. This is down from more than 7,300 one year ago.
The El Paso, Tucson, and Del Rio Sectors rounded out the top five sectors with 4,871, 4,727, and 3,467 migrant encounters, respectively. The Tucson Sector documented the most significant decrease in migrant encounters in January, as the numbers fell by nearly 91 percent from last year’s 50,560 encounters.
Reports posted on X by Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez show that border encounters in February are averaging about 328 per day. If this number holds through the end of the month, migrant encounters for February could be as low as 9,200.
This would be a record low in CBP reports dating back to the last full year of the Clinton administration (FY2000). The previous low occurred during President Trump’s third full month in office (April 2017) when agents encountered 11,127 migrants.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
