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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump claimed Saturday that arrests along the United States' border with Mexico hit a record low of just over 8,300 in February, but official data is yet to be released.
In the post on Truth Social, Trump said that "the invasion of our country is over", after monthly illegal crossings peaked at around 300,000 in December 2023 under former President Joe Biden.
"Thanks to the Trump administration policies, the Border is CLOSED to all illegal immigrants," the President posted. "Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation."
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Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Border Patrol via email Monday afternoon asking for more on the data.
Why It Matters
President Trump was elected off the back of an election campaign which focused heavily on illegal immigration, especially the surge in crossings at the southwest border during Biden's term in the White House. On January 20, following his inauguration, Trump signed multiple executive orders aimed at curtailing illegal entry and ending the previous administration's policies.
What To Know
If confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its agency on the border – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – then the 8,326 figure given by Trump would make February 2025 the lowest monthly figure since CBP records began in 2000.
By comparison, February 2024 saw 140,641 arrests between official ports of entry. The last time February saw a dip below 20,000 was in 2017, just after Trump entered the White House the first time. Two months later, arrests hit a low of 11,127.
Border crossings have been steadily trending downward since December 2023, with a noticeable shift in June 2024 when Biden implemented a near-total ban on asylum. In the last full month of his term, illegal crossings were at 47,316. In January, that number had fallen by around 18,000.
Numbers will matter for the White House if it wants to be seen as delivering on Trump's promises of increased border security, as well as the removal of millions of illegal immigrants.
Deportation numbers since January 20 are still not entirely clear. While DHS put out a figure of around 5,700 for the first two weeks of the Trump administration, there have been few updates since. Official DHS data has not been updated since mid-January and only runs to November 2024.
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As for border crossings, these have been heavily restricted by the Border Patrol with the help of members of the U.S. Military. The President's executive orders also sought to scrap asylum entries and appointments under the old CBP One app, while there have also been reports of immigrants turning around and heading south through Mexico.
Official numbers from CBP are not usually made public at the start of each month, however. Figures for the previous month tend to come midway through the current one, meaning February's update should be two weeks away.
Trump has reportedly been frustrated at the pace of his immigration agenda, leading to the reallocation of his initial acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Caleb Vitello just over a week ago.
More military personnel have also been sent to the border in recent days, while DHS has drafted more agents from across the federal government to help with raids across the country.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, on X: "February was the lowest month in recorded history for encounters at our border. The world is hearing our message: do not come to our country illegally. If you do, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back. Thank you President [Trump] for your strong leadership and to our brave CBP officers and agents for keeping America safe."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration policy analyst, on X: "The claim of 'lowest month in recorded history' is an outright lie. The records go back to the establishment of the Border Patrol a century ago and there are multiple years where monthly encounters were significantly lower.
"We are undoubtedly in a period of low crossings right now, and Trump's actions are definitely responsible for some of that. But one way that Trump has done that is by flagrantly breaking the law, including a wild claim that he has inherent authority to ignore immigration law."
What's Next
Trump's 2017 policies also saw a noticeable dip in border crossings, but the numbers soon began climbing again. The next few months will be crucial in showing whether the President's 2025 policies have a more long-lasting impact.
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