CBP Reports 85% Decrease in Apprehensions of Illegal Aliens at Southern Border After Trump Took Office

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday released statistics showing a marked decrease in encounters with illegal aliens along the southwest border following the executive actions taken by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.

Immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Trump signed a series of executive orders aiming to crack down on illegal immigration, including reinstating the “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seeking migrants, ending “catch and release,” and shutting down the CBP One phone application, which was used by migrants to schedule appointments at points of entry along the border.

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According to CBP, from Jan. 21 through Jan. 31, 2025, the number of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border dropped 85 percent from the same period in 2024.

“CBP is leveraging legal authorities to take every reasonable step to ensure illegal aliens are placed in detention and expediently removed from the country,” the agency stated on Tuesday. “In simple terms, illegal aliens are being arrested, detained and then rapidly removed.”

After ending use of the CBP One App to schedule appointments for migrants, the agency is now reporting a 93 percent decrease in encounters with inadmissible aliens at points of entry along the southwest border in the 11 days following Trump’s inauguration, compared with the 11 days prior.

In addition, the agency is seeing an uptick in drug interdictions. CBP says that in January, agents seized 1,029 pounds of fentanyl, and seizures of methamphetamine increased 15 percent. Over the last two fiscal years, nearly 50,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized by CBP — enough to produce more than two billion lethal doses.

“The men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection are aggressively implementing the President’s Executive Orders to secure our borders. These actions have already resulted in dramatic improvements in border security,” said Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores.

“The reduction in illegal aliens attempting to make entry into the U.S., compounded by a significant increase in repatriations, means that more officers and agents are now able to conduct the enforcement duties that make our border more secure and our country safer,” Flores said.

According to published CBP statistics, southwest border encounters in January totaled 61,465 — down about a third from 96,035 encounters the month prior, and a sharp decrease from a peak of over 300,000 encounters under the Biden administration in December 2023.