A report out from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said their preliminary enforcement numbers for September show the lowest number of border apprehensions since 1970.
DHS said U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest Border for Fiscal Year 2025, which closed at the end of September, totaled 237,565. The number was the lowest for a fiscal year since 1970, the department said.
“We have had the most secure border in American history and our end of year numbers prove it. We have shattered multiple records this year and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of Southwest border apprehensions in 55 years,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said. “Under President Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job, and they have delivered.”
The department said total apprehensions in Fiscal Year 1970 were 201.780. The numbers represent an 87 percent reduction over the average of the last four fiscal years, which was 1.86 million. Additionally, DHS said most of the encounters happened under the previous administration with 172,026 happening between Oct. 1, 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025. Since President Donald Trump took office, the number of apprehensions fell to 65,539, just 27 percent of the fiscal year’s total.
Nationwide, encounters were down in September, and dropped to 26,000 from 26,191 in August. Southwest Border Daily Average Apprehensions were 279 per day in September. That number was 95 percent lower than the number of daily average apprehensions of 5,110 between Feb. 2021 through Dec. 2024.
September also marked the fifth consecutive month with no releases by Border Patrol along the southwest border, compared to 9,144 releases in September 2024.
Officials said the final report would be issued later this month.