Southern border arrests dropped in January to lowest since height of pandemic

The number of illegal immigrants apprehended attempting to enter the United States from Mexico in January dropped off sharply as the second Trump administration implements a crackdown at the southern border, according to new government data released Monday.

“From Jan. 21 through Jan. 31, 2025, the number of U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border dropped 85% from the same period in 2024,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a press release Monday morning, pointing to the days since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration.

CBP attributed the decline to its “no longer catching and releasing illegal aliens into the U.S.”

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