Border Encounters Drop Sharply as Trump Launches Crackdown on Illegal Immigration

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, multiple Department of Homeland Security sources tell 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 sources said. The numbers do not include encounters at the northern border, or encounters at ports of entry by Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) 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.

President Donald Trump implemented 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 Joe Biden signed an executive order limiting asylum. That followed a historic migrant crisis from 2021 that had shattered records repeatedly.

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