Border Crossings Reportedly Down as Trump Administration Begins Immigration Crackdown

Border Crossings Reportedly Down as Trump Administration Begins Immigration Crackdown

Border crossings in the Southwest have reportedly decreased since President Donald Trump's administration began its immigration crackdown. According to a report, the number of daily Southwest border encounters dropped by nearly half on Wednesday.

Border Patrol apprehended just over 840 people crossing the border between ports of entry, down from nearly half the daily crossings in December, which were 1,552. This decrease mirrors a similar drop observed in early 2017.

President Trump has wasted no time implementing his anti-immigration agenda since taking office. He announced that his administration has "halted all entry of illegal border crossers" and deployed active duty U.S. military and National Guard troops to the border to assist in repelling the "invasion."

At his inaugural address, Trump signed a slew of executive orders targeting immigration, including one that revokes the right to birthright citizenship. This move faces legal challenges from 22 states and activist groups. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the order in one of the legal challenges.

In 2022, approximately 11 million immigrants were living in the U.S. illegally, according to the latest estimates from Pew Research Center. In 2024, there were around 2.1 million encounters at the southern border, down by 14 percent from 2023 when figures show closer to 2.5 million encounters. In December 2023, there were over 249,000 encounters at the border, a record-breaking month.