Illegal Border Crossings Hit Record Low At Southern Border

The number of migrants caught crossing the southern border illegally set a new historic monthly low in June, continuing an extraordinary lull in illegal immigration the Trump administration has attributed to its aggressive deportation efforts, preliminary government data obtained by CBS News shows.

Last month, Border Patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border recorded just over 6,000 apprehensions of migrants who entered the country without authorization, the lowest monthly tally ever reported by the agency, according to the preliminary Customs and Border Protection data. The previous monthly low reported by Border Patrol was in March, when the agency recorded around 7,200 migrant apprehensions.

The numbers stand in stark contrast to the record levels of apprehensions made by Border Patrol under the Biden administration, which faced a humanitarian, political and operational crisis of unprecedented proportions at the southern border until it implemented restrictive asylum measures last year.

During many months of former President Joe Biden’s tenure, Border Patrol recorded more than 6,000 apprehensions each day. At their peak in late 2023, daily illegal crossings at the southern border topped 10,000 on some days.

Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, confirmed the roughly 6,000 Border Patrol apprehensions recorded in June. He added that Border Patrol did not release a single migrant for a second consecutive month. During some months under the Biden administration, tens of thousands of migrants were released into the U.S. with instructions to show up in immigration court to plead their cases.