Border encounters drop sharply as Trump launches crackdown on illegal immigration
EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. southern border has seen a sharp drop in illegal immigrant encounters in the first days of the Trump administration, compared to the final few days of the Biden administration, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source tells Fox News Digital.
The number of Border Patrol encounters at the southern border in the first three days of the Trump administration is 35% lower than the final three days of the Biden administration, the source said. The numbers do not include encounters at the northern border, or encounters at ports of entry by CBP’s Office of Field Operations.
On Jan 17, there were 1,288 encounters nationwide, then 1,266 on Jan 18 and 1,354 on Jan 19. That is 3,908 encounters in total.
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Trump took office on the 20th, when there were 1,073 encounters. It then declined further to 736 encounters on the 21st and again to 714 on the 22nd – making up 2,523 encounters.
Numbers fluctuate sharply at the border on a daily and weekly basis, but numbers have been relatively low since June, when President Biden signed an executive order limiting asylum. That followed a historic migrant crisis from 2021 that had shattered records repeatedly.
President Donald Trump implemented additional restrictions. On taking office, he signed orders declaring a national emergency at the border, deploying the military to the border and ended the use of the CBP One app to process migrants at ports of entry via humanitarian parole.
His administration has also launched a mass deportation operation, with ICE agents active in multiple cities and states across the United States.
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The Department of Homeland Security has also issued memos rescinding limits placed on ICE by the Biden administration, ordering a review of parole, and expanding the use of expedited removal for recently-arrived illegal immigrants.
Trump’s administration has also moved to restore border wall construction and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, which requires migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum cases.
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Trump also signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants — a move which quickly sparked a lawsuit from nearly two dozen Democratic-led states.
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Although the data is preliminary, lower numbers will likely fuel speculation about a “Trump effect,” in which migrants are discouraged from making their way to the border if they believe they are less likely to be admitted, or more likely to be deported if they are.