Staff Reports
The numbers are in, and they reveal a stark contrast between the current administration’s border policies and those of its predecessor. January saw a remarkable drop in illegal migrant apprehensions, plummeting by nearly 38 percent as President Trump took the oath of office. This fine piece of statistical data is perhaps a much-needed reminder of effective border security—something that has been sorely lacking under President Biden’s tenure.
TRUMP EFFECT: Migrant Border Encounters Drop 38 Percent from Biden‘s Last Full Month in Office https://t.co/xLHWuacSbs via @BreitbartNews
— DSP (@DonnaPence5) February 20, 2025
To put the situation in context, during December 2020, the last full month before Biden’s presidency, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered over 47,000 migrants. A month later, under Trump’s administration, this number took a nosedive to just over 29,000. One can’t help but wonder if the phrase “Make America Great Again” means “Make the Southern Border Less Chaotic Again.” The numbers don’t lie, as they have consistently shown a reduction in migrant encounters throughout Trump’s presidency compared to the current occupancy at the White House.
Looking back on the first month of Biden’s presidency, it’s clear that the chaos was only beginning. January 2021 saw over 75,000 apprehensions—a figure that spiraled into an astronomical peak of nearly 250,000 by December 2023. Those aboard the political Titanic might call this a one-way ticket to disaster, but the reality is stark: with border security, numbers matter.
The standout location continues to be the San Diego Sector, which has become “Ground Zero” for border crossing events, yet it too displayed marked improvement with apprehensions falling more than 74 percent compared to last year. Meanwhile, the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas continued to bear the load but still showed a decrease, retreating from 7,300 encounters to just under 6,000. Even the slowest sectors—in the midst of Biden’s border blunders—are noticing a significant shift in the tide toward better numbers.
As February unfolded, reports teased an average of around 328 daily encounters. If that trend holds, we might see a record low in apprehension numbers that harkens back to the days of the Clinton administration circa 2000. Its ironic whispers remind many of us that good border practices originate from control and enforcement, not open-door policies. Let’s not forget, in April 2017 during Trump’s administration, the previous low was recorded at 11,127 migrant encounters. The evidence is compelling: strong leadership at the border clearly yields positive outcomes.
