Illegal border crossings plunged to a staggering low of 582 encounters Sunday across the entire U.S.-Mexico border, marking an unprecedented drop in President Donald Trump’s first week back in office.
Not a single one of the nine border sectors recorded more than 200 crossings on January 26, with the Del Rio sector – which saw over 4,000 daily crossings during December 2023’s peak crisis – logging just 60 encounters.
“I’ve never seen anything this low in all of my border coverage,” a veteran border reporter noted, highlighting how crossings have “been falling off a cliff since Trump took office.”
NEW: Per sources, Border Patrol recorded just 582 illegal crossings at the southern border yesterday, with not a single one of the nine sectors hitting 200.
I’ve never seen anything this low in all of my border coverage. The numbers were already flat/low in Biden’s final week,…— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 27, 2025
Trump celebrated the early success Monday at the Republican House retreat in Miami, where he doubled down on his hardline illegal immigration stance and his administration’s emphasis on border security.
“I really focus on the border more than anything else,” Trump declared at the meeting held at his Trump National Doral Miami resort. “We have no apologies and we’re moving very fast.”
The sharp decline follows Trump’s termination of the CBP One cell phone app program, which had allowed approximately 1,500 migrants daily releases at ports of entry under the Biden administration.
In anticipation of Trump taking office, daily border encounters in former President Joe Biden’s final days plummeted between 1,200 to 1,400, down from the December 2023 record-breaking spike of over 11,000 crossings in a single day.
Trump’s tough approach already forced major concessions from Colombia, whose president recently agreed to accept unlimited deportation flights on U.S. military aircraft after turning away initial flights.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Colombia’s “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”
“Think about it, President Trump, I don’t even think had finished the front nine before he successfully forced the Colombian president to take back their illegal immigrants,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich.
Rep. Keith Self, R-T.X., said the cooperation between the Trump administration and the U.S. Border Patrol was to be praised for the sharp decline and the return of “common sense border policy.”
“With Remain in Mexico, the Border Patrol told us months ago that if you simply establish that one policy, it would cut down on the flow by 60% to 70%. I am very positive that this will have a dramatic impact,” Self told CBS News.
“So, there are twofold issues here: One is to stop the flow, stop the bleeding across the border. The second is the repatriations of the illegals that are in the nation,” he said. “But for my constituents, for Texans, this is a return to common sense border policy across the United States.”
The huge border success comes as Republicans face a March 14 deadline to fund the government and advance their broader agenda on tax cuts and fossil fuel development.
Violence continues along the border despite the declining numbers. U.S. Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with suspected cartel members near Fronton, Texas on Monday, though no injuries were reported.
It’s still early to determine if these historic lows will hold, particularly as spring approaches, traditionally a period of increased illegal crossing attempts.