The border saw another record month of calm in November, with Border Patrol agents apprehending about 7,350 illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, according to data shared first with The Washington Times.
And for the seventh straight month, none of those migrants was caught and released.
Across all the borders and ports, Customs and Border Protection reported just 30,367 encounters with unauthorized aliens, a slight improvement over October and a massive change from the Biden years, when CBP averaged more than 230,000 encounters each month.
“Our focus is unwavering: Secure the border, enforce the law and protect this nation. These numbers reflect the tireless efforts of our agents and officers who are delivering results that redefine border security,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said. “We’re not slowing down. We’re setting the pace for the future.”
The fiscal year began in October, and over the first two months CBP has encountered a total of 60,940 migrants. That’s the best start to any fiscal year.
Roughly two-thirds of those are encounters at border crossings and ports of entry, where there’s always some background level of unauthorized entry, as well as some migrants specifically trying to enter to seek protection.
It’s between the entry points, where the Border Patrol operates, that have seen the biggest changes, particularly along the southwestern boundary.
Agents averaged just 245 apprehensions a day across the 1,954-mile border.
By contrast, the Biden administration averaged more than 5,100 apprehensions a day across its four years. And during its worst month, in December 2023, agents averaged more than 8,000 apprehensions a day.
November also marked the 10th straight month of agents catching fewer than 10,000 border jumpers. CBP called that “a level of deterrence unmatched in modern border history.”
The turnaround from President Biden to President Trump has stunned border observers.
“Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the seventh straight month of zero releases,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes.”
Among Mr. Trump’s moves was restarting border wall construction, ending the use of parole and other catch-and-release tools, and declaring a border emergency to block the asylum claims that migrants had come to use as loopholes to earn catch-and-release.
The president’s critics say the cost — migrants who do need protection being turned back — is too high.
What is clear is that with their release gone, fewer migrants are bothering to try at all.
From Inauguration Day to the end of November, the Border Patrol has recorded just 117,105 apprehensions.
The Biden administration regularly averaged more than that each month.
And the last administration frequently posted months when more than 100,000 border jumpers were caught and released. Mr. Trump has now notched his seventh straight month with zero releases from the southwestern border.
The drop in people has taken massive amounts of money out of the Mexican cartels’ smuggling revenue.
Not only are fewer coming, but also, on the whole, they are paying less to make the trip.
The latest information from The Times’ database of border smuggling cases shows prices for Mexican migrants, who now make up most of those trying to reach the U.S., have ticked down compared with the previous two years.
Prices for Central American migrants vary wildly, with some paying just $5,000 and others paying more than $15,000.
Prices paid by migrants from farther afield have dropped dramatically. Chinese migrants, for example, are paying anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. Two years ago, those rates ranged from $3,000 to more than $60,000.
CBP said it is also seizing more drugs.
It reported a 59% increase in fentanyl seizures in November, at 1,543 pounds. Methamphetamine seizures rose 118%, to 21,935 pounds. And cocaine seizures were up 40%, to reach 8,240 pounds.
