The latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures show that in March, the southwest border had the lowest number of crossings, recording only 7,180.
“Under the President’s leadership [Donald] Trump and [DHS] secretary [Kristi] Noem, the government has taken bold and decisive action to restore control of the border. “The message is clear: the border is closed to those who illegally cross, and for those who are still willing to test our determination, you will be prosecuted and you will be revoked,” said CBP Commissioner Pete Flores.
The March figure (more than 1,146 off-roaders in February) is down from the Biden administration's average of 155,000 per month. Under former President Joe Biden, border agents often record more than 7,000 crossings a day.
Trump reports illegal immigration encounters held at historic lows during his first full month of tenure
Immigrants lined up at the remote U.S. Border Patrol Processing Center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Lukeville, Arizona on December 7, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Image)
Daily worries along the southwest border also fell to about 230, a number that the United States had never seen before, CBP said.
The CBP said that under the Biden administration, there are an average of 5,100 encounters per day.
The final monthly number is expected to appear in the coming days.
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Immigrants seeking asylum in the United States while queuing in line at the El Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico. (Reuters/Jorge Duns)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt praised news on the number of transits across the southwestern border in March.
“Border Patrol agents are now back to their contracted jobs: Securing the border, rather than serving as a travel agency for illegal foreigners,” she said. “The Los Angeles Times captured Trump's impact on the border with a recent article. Their headline reads that 'California, Mexico's border was once overwhelmed and is now almost empty, and they wrote that there were few immigrants,” they wrote, “The shelter that once served immigrants was completely closed.'”.
“Deportation of illegal foreigners who threaten the safety of the American people is also developing rapidly.”
The figures were announced earlier this month, with his worries falling to 8,326 in February, his first month in office, which he said was a record low. The figure marks a 96% drop in Biden's management high in December 2023.
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President Donald Trump of West Palm Beach, Florida, November 6, 2024. (Evan Vucci/AP)
After the announcement, Trump defiantly announced that the border was now closed and that all those crossing the southern border would be quickly deported or prosecuted.
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Trump also signed an order to end reproductive citizenship, suspended refugee enrollment and ended the use of apps on the southern border to accept immigrants through humanitarian parole and restoration of border wall construction.
Trump's tough attitude towards illegal immigration is an important campaign commitment, and his administration has also arrested and deported criminal illegal immigrants across the country under Noem and border tsar Bzar Tom Homan.
Michael Dorgan and Brooke Taylor of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
